Two Lost Souls
by Xana Shadow
Summary: An undead warrior finds himself in an unknown world, he travels looking for a way back to his own world. On his travels, he encounters a Fox that tries to make up for her past mistakes, they eventually help each other with the other one's past.
1. Prolugue

_"when you look a long time into the Abyss, the Abyss starts looking into you"._

**Third POV:**

In the land of Ionia, the land of nature of magic, where the spiritual arts are practiced, there are many things a person can see. This scene, however, is not one of them.

Out of nowhere, Near one of its vast mountains that are full of trees and life, strange black fog started appearing in the sky.

From the fog, a figure appeared and fell into the trees below, taking a few branches with them.

After their body connected with solid ground, it lay motionless for a few seconds with tree branches falling on it.

The figure started groaning in pain as they stood up revealing their form. It was a tall man wearing dark-themed clothing.

He had a dark shirt with its neck reaching his nose. He was wearing a pointy metal hat with a small mask connected to it with a few strands of white hair visible from the back of the head.

On his left shoulder and arm was armor connected with straps to his chest with a dark red cape connected to both shoulders under the armor.

His right hand was covered by black leather straps. On his knees were armor covering them and he was wearing brown boots.

He had a big, long and slim greatsword strapped to his back, and on his waist was a brutal looking dagger.

He shook his head and reached inside his pocket, and pulled out a glass bottle that contained a golden glowing liquid.

"(Oh, thank the Old Wolf of Farron,)" he thought grateful that the bottle didn't break in the fall.

He took a drink, surprisingly with the neck of his shirt still covering his face. His body then glowed a golden color and he felt his wounds heal.

The man put the bottle back in his pocket and looked around. He was in a forest at the side of a mountain.

He started walking around trying to familiarize himself with his surroundings. He has been to many forests, yet he didn't recognize where he was.

He wasn't in the swamps of Farron keep, nor the Road of sacrifice. No castles were around, so he rolled out the thought of being in Lothric or Anor Londo. Since there are no corpses around, he was definitely not in the undead settlement, and since he can see the morning sun he doubted he was anywhere near the Boreal Valley.

"where am I?" he asked. The last thing he remembers is fighting a few Dark Wraiths, then... Something grabbed him and pulled him into the darkness, and then he fell in this forest.

Did the Abyss send him into a new area? Perhaps, but it didn't matter. The important thing is that he wasn't corrupted. He would deal with what crosses his path without a problem, but he still needed to find a Bonfire to prepare himself.

The man kept walking for a while without any signs of civilization, Hollows, beasts or anything for the matter of fact. Just trees.

It was getting irritating. He traveled long distances before, he once walked all the way from Lothric to Irithyll. But he preferred using Bonfires since traveling by foot was so... Time-consuming.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a scream. It sounded like a small child, so he grabbed the handle of his sword and ran towards the source of the sound.

The sound came from a little boy wearing a brown shirt, black pants, and brown boots. He was holding a little puppy in his arms and running through the trees.

The running boy pushed another tree branch out of his way. He has been running for a while, but he couldn't stop, not with what's following him.

He suddenly tripped on a root that grew over the ground. He fell down and dropped the puppy that was in his hands.

The puppy immediately stood up and went to the boy to check on him. They both tensed when they heard a growl coming from behind them.

They looked back to see a lizard-like creature that was the size of a mountain lion come out of the bushes of the jungle. It had found the boy when he was playing with his puppy and entered its territory, so it took the chance for an easy meal.

The lizard creature stalked towards its prey who started crawling back with the puppy cowering beside it. Before they made any noticeable distance, the beast jumped to attack.

The boy hugged his puppy and closed his teary eyes, ready for the end. But, it never happened. The boy only heard the sound of something cutting through flesh, and then a thud.

After realizing that he wasn't feeling any pain, the boy slowly opened his eyes and looked in shock at the scene in front of him.

The beast was still there, but it was missing its head. The body was on the ground at the feet of a tall man with a blood-red cape holding a blood-covered sword in his hand.

The man looked over his shoulder at the boy who immediately tensed. The boy could barely see blue eyes looking at him through the small mask that was connected to the hat.

Meanwhile, the man himself was looking at the boy a little curiously. It has been a while since he met a normal human who isn't mad or a corpse. He really was far from home.

"Sora?!" a voice suddenly yelled through the woods. "Sora, where are you!?" they asked with obvious worry in their voice.

Suddenly, another man came out of the trees. Wearing farmer clothes, a wide straw hat, long black boots, and jean pants. His eyes look frantically and immediately spot the boy.

"Sora!" the man yelled relieved.

"Father!" the boy yelled as he got up and ran to his father's open arms.

The parent wasted no time hugging the boy, relieved beyond words that he was alright. After a few moments, he noticed the man that was standing in front of the dead beast.

The father tightened his hold on his son protectively. The man's dark clothes did not bode well. He was immediately concerned when he saw the man's sword covered in blood. The father looked over his son but saw no wounds, much to his relief. He then noticed the headless beast on the ground, which was the source of the blood.

Meanwhile, the man himself stood motionless and unaffected by the fearful gaze of the father. He was used to those. He would have left by now since he has no other business here, but this might be the only source of information.

Suddenly, the little boy spoke. "H-He saved me, father," he said still holding the puppy, which gained a surprised look from his parent, and a small look from the man in front of him.

The father sighed in relief and started giving the man a look of gratitude. The man himself was just confused about why the boy vouched for him. He expected it was a thank you at saving him.

"Thank you for saving my son," the father said still slightly cautious of the man.

The man simply moved his sword making the father and his son tense, but they relaxed slightly when they saw him strap it on his back.

"Where is this place?" the man asked trying to know where he ended up.

The father was caught off guard by the odd question but answered nonetheless. "You're In the western side of Ionia," he replied realizing that the man didn't know where he is.

"Ionia?" The man wondered at the unknown location. "How far is this place from Farron Keep?" he asked.

The father just looked at him in confusion. "Farron… Keep? I'm sorry, but I've never heard of it," he said shaking his head.

Now, it was the man's turn to look at the father in confusion. He guessed that since he never heard of this place, then it was pretty far from Farron Keep. But, even then people should know about the home of the Undead Legion, the Abyss Watchers.

The man, the Abyss Watcher, sighed. "Very well. Can you tell me how to get to Anor Londo?" he asked hoping to at least get to a familiar area.

Much to his surprise, the father shook his again. "I'm really sorry, but I don't know that place either."

Now the Abyss Watcher was suspicious. It was one thing to not know Farron Keep, but to not know the land of ancient Lords was an entirely different other thing.

"You said this place is called Ionia. Is it the name of this entire region?" the Abyss Watcher asked for confirmation. The father nodded as an answer. "What is it part of?"

"Well, Ionia is part of Runeterra, like the rest of the world," The father replied in a matter of fact manner.

The Abyss Watcher's eyes narrowed. Ionia and Runeterra are names he never heard of. However, from the way the father said it, it seems that's common sense around here.

"Why don't you come with us to our farm," the father offered. Normally, he wouldn't trust strangers easily, especially ones who look so menacing. But, the man in front of him saved his son, and it's easy to see he is lost, so the least he can do is offer some guidance. "Maybe we can help you out."

Normally, the Abyss Watcher would decline an offer like that. He usually preferred doing things on his own. However, he was in an unknown land, with unknown circumstances, and unknown people.

'Never take chances with the unknown'. That was something his foster father had taught him. Those words saved him before, so he might as well try them again.

Reluctantly, the Abyss Watcher nodded. "Very well. I thank you for your hospitality."

The Abyss Watcher swung his sword to clear it of blood, making the father and his son jump but relaxed seeing him strap the weapon on his back.

Seeing the man in front of him relax, the father motioned for the Abyss Watcher to follow them. "Come, it's this way."

…

The farm was rather plain-looking. A wooden two-story house with a wooden barn close by. Something that a person would expect from a farm.

The first thing that the father did when he came back, was to enter the house with his son. In there, he found a brown-haired woman wearing a sundress pacing back and forth.

When the woman saw them, she immediately went to her son. "Sora!" she hugged him tightly. Her son has been missing for more than a couple of hours, and she was worried sick. She then started pulling his ear. "What did I tell you about leaving too far from the house, hmm?" she scolded her son.

"Everything is alright, dear," the father said as the mother stopped pulling on her son's ear. "Listen, I need you to take Sora and put him to bed."

The mother noticed his tone and looked at him worryingly. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

The father nodded. "Yes, I just have some work in the barn," he said reassuring his wife who nodded and took their son upstairs.

Seeing his wife and son leave, the father went to one of the shelves in the living room and took a box that was on top of it.

He opened the box and started looking around until he found a large piece of rolled paper. This was something that he got as a gift from one of the shop owners that he delivers the milk and eggs to.

He walked out of the house and went to the barn. It wasn't anything special. Just a wooden building that he kept the cows, horses, and even chickens in.

When the father opened the door, he was slightly surprised to see that the animals were unusually quiet. Not like they made much noise, to begin with, but now they weren't making any noise at all.

Walking inside, the father couldn't help but notice that the animals were keeping their heads down. It's like they were too scared to make a noise.

He then found the Abyss Watcher sitting on a haystack. The Undead swordsman was asked to wait here as the father took the boy home. Truthfully, the father didn't blame the animals for staying quiet. The Abyss Watcher's very presence felt as if Kindred themselves was here.

"I'm sorry you have to stay here," the father apologized. Being a place for animals, the barn wasn't exactly clean or have a nice smell.

The Abyss Watcher shook his head standing up. "Don't worry about it," he just shrugged it off. Truthfully, he had been into far worse places than a barn.

The father walked to a wooden barrel and used it as a table. He unfurled the paper he was holding to show some sort of map. "This is a map of Runeterra. Maybe you can find out where you are by looking at this."

The Undead swordsman walked to the man and looked at the map. But, much to his disdain, he didn't recognize anything on it.

Demacia, Ionia, Noxus, Shurima, and more unfamiliar names were marked on it. And, if that wasn't enough, the shape of the lands was completely unfamiliar.

"I don't recognize any of these places," the Abyss Watcher said making the man look at him confused.

"Not any of them?" the father asked surprised. "Where are you from?" he asked wanting to know.

"Farron Keep," the Abyss Watcher replied. The father simply didn't recognize the name just like the first time he heard it.

The Undead swordsman looked back at the map. He was questioning where the Abyss had sent him. It was said that the Abyss once traveled through time itself, so anything could happen while dealing with it.

The father, meanwhile, was thinking of a way to help the man in front of him. True, he didn't know him, but he did own him for saving his son.

Then, he remembered hearing about a place while being at the shops in the near town. "I… might know of something that can help you," he said, gaining the Abyss Watcher's attention. The father then pointed at the middle of the map. "In here, at the center of Runeterra, is a place called the Institute of War. In there, magicians, warriors, and summoner from all over the world gather to join. Maybe you could find someone there to help you."

The Abyss Watcher put a hand where his chin is and hummed in thought. He wasn't a sorcerer, but he knew a few who were. Magic might be a good idea to help him understand his situation, and maybe even go back to Farron Keep.

Truthfully, there wasn't actually many options. So after debating himself for a few moments, he nodded his head. "Very well, that is a good start. May I take this?" he asked referring to the map, and the man nodded. He didn't actually need it, so it's better to give it to someone who does. The Abyss Watcher suddenly turned to the doors of the barns. "Thank you for your hospitality. I'll be leaving now," he said walking away.

The father looked at him surprised. "Wait!" he said making the Undead Swordsman stop and look at him over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you rest before leaving? At least get some sleep."

Sleep. Honestly, undead didn't actually NEED to sleep, but they CAN still do it. It was just a luxury that allows them to relax and rest.

However, rest and relaxation are two things he couldn't afford to do now. He was in an unknown location, and in an unknown world, so he had to get this over with quickly.

"Thank you for the offer, but I have to decline," The Abyss Watcher said as he continued to walk to the doors.

"At least tell me your name?" the farmer asked as he saw the Abyss Watcher leave the barn. He wanted to at least know the name of the person who saved his son.

The Undead stopped for one last second to answer the question. "My name… is Grey Ashnex," he said. And with that, he walked away disappearing in the forest.

The farmer just stood there for a few seconds before he realized that the animals regained their usual behavior and started making noises again. He sighed before he started looking for a bucket, he didn't milk the cows yet.

Meanwhile, the Abyss Watcher was walking through the trees of the forest again. But, unlike before, he has a destination this time. The Institute of War. He didn't know what awaits him, but he knew it was going to be one heck of an experience.

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**This is just an experimental chapter I made. Its purpose is to try and completely recreate my story. How it goes, how Ahri and Grey met, how they bond together, and all that. (I'll finish the current version before starting with this one)**

**Also, in this version, Ahri's lore and her short stories had already happened. Unlike the first time where Grey showed up before the lore began.**

**If you have ideas to make the older versions better, please give them to me and I'll try my best to correct them in this version.**

**Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.) **


	2. 1

_"Thou art strong human... Surely thine kind is more than pure Dark." _**Third POV:**

In one of the villages of Ionia, a group of friends was celebrating their latest hunt. They were in the forest for the last few days, and just when they were about to give up when they stumbled upon a pack of wild deers. They didn't catch much, but it was good enough for a celebration.

The group consisted of five men, all wearing the same uniform of black leather over a blue shirt, black pants, black boots, and a bow with some arrows on their back.

They were walking the streets of the village, which was made of wooden houses, dirt roads, a few people on the streets selling stuff either on stands or on a small carpet on the ground, and lamps in the streets to light them at night, they were off since it was the afternoon. It wasn't a famous town, just a place for people who want to get away from society or hunt on the eastern side.

One of the hunters, a black-haired one that was walking at the back of the group, suddenly stopped as he heard a faint giggle that didn't belong to the group.

Being slightly drunk and a little busy laughing, the others didn't notice their friend stopping, so they continued their way.

The now lone hunter looked around before he spotted the source of the giggle. His eyes widen seeing a beautiful woman from beside one of the stands looking at him. Most of her body was covered by a hooded cloak, but he could still see her face and some strands of black hair. He can also swear he saw a pink glow from her eyes.

Her hand came out of the cloak and slowly motioned for him to follow her as she walked behind the stall. Being slightly drunk and wanting to get some action, the man ignored how suspicious this was and followed her.

The hunter walked beside the stand she was standing and found the woman standing in an alley between two houses. The woman looked at him and gave him a wink before she continued on forward. The man immediately followed her.

They alley lead to one of the edges of the town, apparently. One where the houses stop and the trees start appearing. The woman was there, looking at him, giving him a sultry smile before she walked into the trees.

Not giving up on the chase, the man followed her again. Not caring that she was leading him out of the village. The woman stopped in a small clearing that wasn't very far, just enough to keep away people.

She turned to the man and stood there waiting for him. The hunter didn't waste much time walking towards her, smirking at the thought of getting this beautiful woman.

The woman herself took out her hands from her cloak as the man reached her. She raised her hands and held his face. The hunter now can see a pair of golden eyes clearly.

The woman started leaning forward and so did the man expecting a kiss. However, the woman suddenly started inhaling, making blue, glowing air leave the man's lips and go into her own. After a few seconds, the woman stopped and the man fell on the ground, out cold.

The hunter opened his eyes a few moments later and got up to find himself still in the clearing, but alone. It was strange. He didn't remember what he was doing here, where he lived, or even if he was married.

But, he did remember that he was supposed to be drinking with a few friends, so the man dismissed his worries as an effect of alcohol. After standing up with some difficulty, the man turned towards the village and started walking to get back with his friends.

Once the man was gone, the cloaked woman came out from hiding behind one of the trees. She gave a tired, almost self-depressed sigh. She had done it again, taking the memories of another person.

However, she was thankful that, unlike the past, she didn't kill someone or torture them emotionally to do it. It was progress, but a very slow one.

She needed a way to stop, permanently. If she wants to live a peaceful life, not haunted by the idea that she is a monster, then she needed to find a way to live without the need for stealing memories.

The woman believes that she had finally found a way. The Institute of War. A place where the strongest Magicians and fighters gather around. She might be able to find a way to help her there. Who knows… maybe even find something on her origins.

She shook those thoughts out of her head. She knew that the higher her hopes, the greater the fall will be if she was disappointed. So, the only thing she can do is hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.

She went back to the village herself, but with a different road to not encounter the hunter or any of his friends. She got into the shopping district of the village, which had more people selling than the normal streets.

Walking between people and passing through shoppers, the woman decided to indulge herself in looking over the sites around her. There wasn't anything new, obviously, mainly because Ionia's stronghold on traditions, but she just wanted to pass the time.

She saw the wooden stands with all kinds of trinkets, jewelry, potions, and weapons. The people who were selling on a carpet pretty much sold the same stuff but on the ground.

The woman would always take a second to look at the ones that sell jewelry, mainly to see if she can find anything like her gemstones, but sadly, nothing. Also, each time she would see someone saying they were a fortune-teller, she would immediately walk away. It didn't end well for her the last time she dealt with fortune-tellers. In fact, she almost lost one of her tails after being drugged.

After walking amongst the people for a few minutes, she finally found what she was looking for. A carriage that was taking some food to the next town over, where she would start her traveling to the Institute.

She knew about it from the memories of the hunter that she just took. Normally, she would rather travel alone on foot, but that would be a waste of energy and time. Plus, her legs felt tired from walking towards this village.

The carriage was made of wood, like most things built in Ionia, and in all honesty, it looked like a giant box without a backside. It had two wooden wheels on each side, the back was covered by a curtain made of rags to make sure that the sun doesn't ruin what's inside, and the front was tied to two horses. The rider of the carriage was a middle-aged man with slightly dark skin, showing that he works in the sun a lot. He had a wide straw-hat, so no one can tell if he had hair, but he did have a beard. For clothes, he wore a black shirt with black pants tied to his waist with a robe, working as a belt.

"Excuse me," the woman spoke softly as she walked up to him while he was sitting at the rider's seat. The man turned his attention to the woman ended up staring at her beauty. She rolled her eyes at the reaction that she seems to get a lot. "Are you going to the next town over?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," he replied. He was slightly curious about how she found out, but he was too busy staring at her.

Her eyes glowed a light blue color, something that the carriage rider didn't notice. "Would you mind giving me a ride with you?" she asked.

The man didn't know, but he suddenly felt too happy to decline her. So, with a big smile, he answered, "Sure. Hope on, just don't touch the food please."

The woman nodded, glad that her magic worked. She used it to make the man extremely happy for no reason. When people are happy, it's hard for them to decline small favors.

She walked to the back of the carriage and entered after pushing away the rag that covered it. She found that the carriage had a few milk tanks, a few boxes of eggs, and some sacks of flour.

She got on and sighed as she was covered from the heat of the sun. She found a small crate to sit on and wait for the ride to begin.

The woman decided to take off her cloak, seeing that no one can see her inside the carriage. After taking it off, her full form was revealed.

She was a beautiful woman with long, black hair that was tied to a braid at the end. She was wearing a red kimono with white outlines and detached sleeves. Her skirt reached just above her knees and she had a blue gemstone tied to each side of her waist.

However, there were a few features that would draw anyone's attention. Her golden eyes had slitted pupils. She had whisker marks on her cheeks. On her head was a pair of fox ears, and she had nine, furry, whitetails coming out of an opening on the lower back of her kimono.

She folded her cloak beside her for when she needs it again. She sighed as she rested her back against the wooden side of the carriage.

"Excuse me," the woman's ears twitch as she heard someone speak the rider. She couldn't see who they were since she was inside the carriage, but she can tell it's a man. Since the front wasn't covered unlike the back, she was able to see that the rider looked slightly taken back by who was talking to him. "Are you going to the next village?"

The rider returned to reality from being taken back by the new person and nodded. "Sure, do you need something?"

"Do you mind giving me a ride?" the person asked, and the woman tensed slightly.

The rider nodded again, much to the woman's annoyance. "Sure, I already have someone tagging along, so one more can't hurt," She started hearing footsteps going around the carriage, probably headed to the back to get on.

She started mentally scolding herself for her mistake. She forgot to turn off the magic that was effecting the rider, which means that he wouldn't refuse other people. The woman wanted to be alone right now, and she definitely didn't want a man at her company.

The rags of the carriage were moved as someone got on. The woman was prepared to see anything, from a normal villager to some wannabe hero… this, however, was one thing she did NOT expect.

The first thing she noticed was the pointy metal hat that the person was wearing. His face was covered by the neck of his shirt, and his eyes were covered by a small mask connected to the hat. In fact, the only thing visible from his head was a few strands of white hair.

The woman saw his dark clothes and couldn't recognize any of his equipment. The shoulder armor, the leather straps on the right hand, the rather large but slim Greatsword, and that odd, brutal dagger on his waist.

The Abyss Watcher got on the carriage and took a glance at her. The woman, while she managed to see a pair of blue eyes behind the mask, was getting herself ready to receive some cheesy pick-up line from him in an attempt to Wow her.

However, much to her surprise, he took his eyes off her and went to a free spot beside a few flower sacks before sitting down while resting his hand on his raised knee.

Truthfully, she was quite surprised and couldn't help but stare at him. Most people she met, especially the men, would end up staring at her beauty, or at least looking at her ears and tails with curiosity.

But this person did neither. He just acknowledged that she was here, and sat down completely ignoring her presence. He either thought really highly of himself, or he was just trying to mind his own business. For some reason, she suspected it was the latter.

"Alright," the carriage rider said as he whipped the robe, making the horses start walking, pulling the carriage making it shake a little. "This is going to be a bumpy ride, so I hope you don't mind."

The Abyss Watcher didn't pay him any mind. After dying an uncountable number of times in all ways possible, your idea of 'pain' and 'uncomfortable' becomes rather dull.

He was walking through the forest for almost two days since he left that farm. Thanks to the map he acquired from the farmer, he managed to reach this village before sunrise.

After realizing that he couldn't find a Bonfire, he decided to look for something else that ease his travels. So, he started asking around the shops for a way.

The Abyss Watcher managed to find out about this carriage after a few shop owners had told him that it is delivering a few of their products to the next town over and that the person driving it might let him on.

While the rider did allow him to get on, the Undead Swordsman couldn't help but think it was too easy, but he just shrugged it off thinking that something good happened to him to lift his mood.

When he got on and saw a beautiful woman sitting inside, the first thing that popped into his head was why she had fox ears and tails. But, he would be lying if he said he hasn't seen weirder things, so he just sat down to rest from walking all night.

Meanwhile, the woman couldn't stop herself from staring at the man with curiosity. It was always in her nature to be curious about new things, which is why she used to spy on humans before she became what she is now.

She looked over the memories that she collected over the years, trying to recognize his armor, or at least where it's from, but she couldn't find anything, much to her surprise.

His dark clothes suggested Noxus, but his armor design couldn't be further than that if he tried. The shoulder and left arm armor suggested Demacia, but the dark colors threw that possibility out of the window.

The way he was covering his face with the neck of his shirt sort of reminded her of the Kinkou Order or the Order of Shadows, but she should have recognized it easily then. His equipment didn't look like it was made for frozen terrains or desert land, so Shurima and Freljord were out. His equipment also looked old, so Piltover was out of the question.

She also took notice of his rather large Great-sword. It didn't have a sheath, obviously for its large size, and was strapped to his back by what she can guess is leather.

One of the things that she also took notice of, as much as it made her sound like a creep, was his scent. It was a scent that she knew from her days of being a fox. It was the scent of a wolf. For a second, she honestly suspected that he was a wolf Vastaya.

The woman tried to look at his eyes from behind his small mask. She noticed that they were closed, but you have to really look to notice.

He might have seemed relaxed and wide opened, but she knew better. She knew that he was ready to pounce at any sign of trouble. A part of her was a little scared of making any sudden movements to provoke him.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the carriage rider speaking. "Well, this is refreshing. I don't have many people travel with me. Mind telling why you're traveling?" he asked hoping to pass some time.

"Personal reasons," Both the woman and the Abyss Watcher replied at the same time, making them look at each other for a second.

The rider realized from their blunt answer that they weren't in the mood to talk. "Well, this ride should take a while, so you might want to get comfortable."

The woman sighed as she adjusted herself on the crate while bringing her tails around her to make them more comfortable. She returned to looking at the Undead Swordsman, but he was in the same state as before.

The woman always prided herself with the ability to read everyone's emotions and tell how they feel. But, she couldn't feel anything from this person. No emotions, no desires, nothing. It was like sitting with a statue, which honestly scared her.

Seeing that her normal abilities wouldn't help her now, she decided to use the old fashioned way, which is talking. "It seems we're traveling buddies, now," she stated, referring to how the rider said that they would take a while before reaching their destination.

The Abyss Watcher just took a glance at her and replied, "So it would seem."

"I'm Ahri," the woman introduced herself, wanting to know this man's name if nothing else. She thought that by giving her name, he would say his. "May I get your name?"

Thinking that it would be rude not to answer her since she gave him her name, he answered. "Grey, Grey Ashnex," he said before they fell into silence, listening to the hooves of the horses and rattling of the wooden wheels.

The woman made a mental note to remember that name. For his unique equipment and interesting behavior, at least.

She didn't know why, but she couldn't help but feel there is a LOT more to this person. However, she decided not to dwell on it, since after this ride, she might not even see him again.

Neither the woman nor the Abyss Watcher knew what awaits them at the Institute. However, they did know that nothing would be the same anymore.

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**I hope you enjoy the story so far. I know this chapter is mostly narrative, but the action is going to start in the next chapter.**

**I also hope I'm not rushing things on how Ahri and Grey met. If you think there is a way to help that out, please let me know.**

**Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)**


	3. 2

_"To abandon one's self in search for strength… How tragic…"_

**Third POV:**

The carriage had been going the whole day, it had to stop at midnight in order to let the horses rest before continuing tomorrow. It was now at the side of a dirt road in the middle of the forest.

Ahri sighed as she came out of the back and jumped down. She stretched her limbs that were slightly cramped from not moving for a few hours. This is why she preferred traveling by foot, having her movement restricted didn't feel nice.

The Abyss Watcher jumped down after her but he barely did anything else. It's like sitting down for hours didn't bother him at all. Which, in all honesty, was the case since he was used to sitting in front of a Bonfire for who knows how long.

"Now, we'll just stay put until dawn, at least to let the horses rest," the carriage driver said from his seat at the front. He then remembered something the made him flinch. "Oh, right," he said and the two passengers looked at him noticing the tone in his voice. "I just remembered that I only brought food for only one person, I didn't think on anyone joining," he said before motioning to the carriage. "Normally, I would allow you to take something from the carriage… but, I promised that I would deliver all of it, so I can't give you any."

Ahri sighed with a hand on her face, she really should have prepared herself. She didn't feel right doing this, but seeing that she didn't have many options, she decided to use her magic on the driver again to at least share his food.

"It doesn't matter," Grey said catching both Ahri and the driver off guard. "We'll just hunt for something," he said making their eyes widen.

Hunting deep in the forest this late at night was one of the stupidest things any of them can think of. Mostly because anything worth hunting goes into hiding and the predators start venturing the forest.

"You can't be serious," Ahri stated. If he was that desperate for food, then she can use more magic on the driver to share his food.

The Abyss Watcher simply glanced at her over his shoulder before he started walking towards the forest. He was obviously serious about hunting for something to eat.

"Is he going to be alright?" the driver asked, concerned about the Undead Swordsman.

Ahri just silently stared at where he went off. He didn't strike her as the person who wouldn't know how dangerous the jungle can be at night, so he was either brave or foolish, she couldn't tell.

She decided that it wasn't her problem. If he dies, then it was because of his own actions, not hers. Just as she was about to turn to the driver and use her magic on him, she stopped. Her gaze fell to where the Abyss Watcher had gone again.

The black-haired Vastaya scowled. It seems her conscience didn't want her to go through with it. First, she was almost brainwashing the driver into giving her his food. Second, she felt that simply ignoring Grey's actions was just downright cruel.

So, with a sigh, Ahri walked to the carriage and climbed to sit down on the edge. "Go ahead and eat before sleeping, I'll wait for him," she said putting her elbows on her knees and resting her head on her hands.

The driver looked at her surprised. He was expecting her to ask him to share some food or to allow her to take some food from inside the carriage.

However, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he walked towards his seat, climbed on it, and took out a bag from his side that contained some food and water.

Meanwhile, Ahri kept looking at the direction of the Abyss Watcher's departure. She told herself that she'll give him thirty minutes. If he's late, then she'll consider him dead, and her conscience can't bother her since it was his fault.

**…**

Grey had been walking through the trees for a few minutes now. He was slightly enjoying the quiet atmosphere that the forest had. But, he still had a job to do, so after kneeling down, he started searching the ground for any kind of tracks.

He looked at the ground looking for marks, broken tree branches, or even rubbish. You can't be too picky about tracks at a time like this.

He finally found something, paw marks with some claws visible. From his training, he realized that they were possibly marks left by a tiger, because of the shape and size. Normally, this would be a cause for concern for most people, but the Abyss Watcher was actually pleased.

'If there is a predator, then there is a prey,' that was one of the things his foster father taught him. It meant that if a tiger was around, then there's is something worth hunting for it to be here.

After standing up, the Abyss Watcher started following the trail left by the jungle cat. He found the rest of the claw marks, along with broken tree branches, and even signs of another animal, which confirmed his earlier thoughts.

He finally found his target or two of them to be exact. A tiger that was apparently stalking a lost deer. The deer was drinking from a small bond of water, while the tiger was stalking towards it from between the bushes.

Grey had two choices in this situation. He could either get rid of the tiger first, then get the deer, or he could attack the deer now, and deal with the tiger, who is bound to be angry about losing his prey, afterward.

The first choice would give the deer a chance to escape, so he opted to take the second one. Grabbing the handle of his sword, he drew it, positioned himself by moving his left leg forward, raising his sword, and pointing the tip at the deer.

In nothing but a second, Grey dashed forward swinging his sword, cutting off the deers head. The body fell lifeless on the ground as the neck started spelling blood.

The Abyss Watcher swung his sword, cleaning the blood on it as he looked at the deer. He looked at where the tiger is, and it seemed to be taking a few steps back. Unsurprising, seeing the difference in size between those two.

Noticing that the tiger was already getting back, Grey swung his sword again turning around to the tiger for intimidation. Thinking that the body of a deer wasn't worth it, the tiger walked away.

The Abyss Watcher sighed as he looked at the body again. Now, all he has to do is take it back, probably grab some firewood for cooking, too.

**…**

It has been thirty minutes, and Ahri was still in the same spot she was in, sitting on the edge of the carriage, waiting for the Abyss Watcher. The driver had already fallen asleep where his seat was.

She didn't know what she was thinking. She should have known better than to think he would actually come back, let alone find something.

Ahri sighed knowing that her haunting conscience is one of the reasons she's heading towards the Institute of War. She couldn't help it.

She turned to the carriage, ready to take something to eat. Maybe a couple of eggs and some milk. If the driver is mad, she'll just use her magic on him.

Suddenly, her ears started twitching as she heard something. It sounded like something was being dragged through the ground.

Ahri looked at the forest and raised her hand, preparing to use some magic just in case whatever was coming is hostile.

What came from the forest, much to her surprise, was the Abyss Watcher, dragging a headless deer by the feet while holding a stack of wood in his other hand.

Ahri couldn't hide the shock from her face. Finding an animal in the forest this late was really hard, one that doesn't want to eat you that is. But the Abyss Watcher had come out with an actual deer.

She was broken out of her thoughts by hearing the Abyss Watcher's voice. "I apologize if I was late," he said with little to no emotions. "Why don't you start a fire to cook while I prepare the meat?" he asked as he dumped the stack of wood on the ground before turning to the deer and taking out his dagger.

Ahri just stared at him as he started skinning the deer. This person just kept surprising her. No matter how she saw it, nothing about him made sense, and this was HER of all people that thinks that. Her life couldn't be further than normal if she tried.

She shook those thoughts out of her head and decided to actually set up the fire. After gathering the firewood and organizing it near the carriage but not close enough for it to catch fire, she waved her hand sending a small, fox-shaped blue flame that struck the wood and set it on fire.

She sat down with her back resting on one of the wheels of the carriage. Not the most comfortable spot, but she had to make do.

Grey then came in with pieces of meat on sticks with him. He positioned the sticks near the fire for it to cook while he sat down on the opposite side of Ahri and the carriage in the same position he had during the ride.

They just sat in silence, with the only sound being the crackling fire between them as they looked at the meat as it cooked.

Ahri decided to break the silence. "Tell me, how did you find a deer this late?" she asked curiously.

The Abyss Watcher glanced at her before looking back at the fire. "I'm used to hunting in hard situations," was his blunt answer. Of course, that was an understatement.

The woman sighed. She knew that his answer was an honest one. But, that didn't mean she was rather annoyed by the bluntness.

"I must say, I never saw armor like yours," Ahri said implying that she would like to know where he's from.

However, much to her disappointment, Grey just gave her another blunt answer. "I don't come from around here."

Ahri sighed again. His blunt answers were honest, she can tell that much, but that's it. She can't tell anything else. Like his posture, his voice didn't give any emotions.

However, she thought back on how he managed to hunt a deer, this late at night, and making it sound easy. Ahri remembers a suspicion she had when she first saw him. "Are you a Vastaya?" she asked.

The Abyss Watcher looked up at her and tilted his head. "A what?" he asked confused.

Ahri shook her head. "Never mind," she said and Grey shrugged it off. If he was a Vastaya, he wouldn't have asked what it was.

The meat looked finished and she couldn't help but take a whiff from its smell. Deer meat was always one of her favorites. She always hunted for it when she was still a fox.

The Abyss Watcher then took half of the sticks and gave them to her while he had the other half.

She would have started to eat immediately, but she didn't. She saw it was a chance to see the Undead Swordsman uncover his face because she would be lying if she said she wasn't curious.

Grey took down the neck of his shirt to uncover his mouth. While she did get to see his slightly pale skin, she didn't see other than his mouth, because the small mask that was connected to the hat was covering everything else.

They started eating in quiet, just sitting while having their meal. When they were done, they threw the sticks into the fire to burn.

Silence loomed over. The only sound was the crackling of the fire, the Abyss Watcher actually found it to be nice. It was quite nostalgic, mainly because all accursed Undead are used to sitting in front of the Bonfire. However, this got him wondering: if there are no Bonfires… does that mean the curse doesn't exist in here as well?

Ahri, meanwhile, didn't find it as appealing as Grey did. Not being able to read someone annoyed her and, to some extent, scared her, even.

She decided to speak again. "Why don't we pass some time by talking?" she asked hoping to get some knowledge. The Abyss Watcher looked at her with what she can guess as a confused look, he had already covered his face again. "Tell me a little about yourself," she said while her eyes glowed a faint pink light. She didn't enjoy charming people anymore, but she just had to get some kind of reaction from this person.

However, much to her shock, he just looked back at the fire. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't feel like sharing anything about myself."

Ahri could only look at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Her magic… had failed? That was something that never happened to her. No matter who or what it was, her magic always worked, but this person didn't even seem to notice.

The woman decided to simply shake her head and focus on something else. She remembered that after this ride, they might not even see each other again, so she might as well forget about getting to know him.

Even so, Ahri couldn't help but be curious about this person. Someone who wasn't charmed by her looks had no emotions and desires or even affected by her magic. Her curiosity about someone has never been so high.

**…**

The next day came. Grey and Ahri were inside the carriage again as it traveled through the road, listening to the sound of the rattling wheels.

The driver was surprised when he woke up and found the remains of a deer on the side of the road, he was even more surprised to hear the Grey had caught it. However, he just brushed it off since he saw that the food inside the carriage wasn't touched.

They exited the forest and were now on their way to enter a town that was close by. The houses in this town were made of grey stone walls, but a wooden ceiling. This town was fairly small, mainly because it was like a resting place for travelers, but it still had a decent size to it.

The carriage entered the town and went to the shopping district to drop its supplies. This shopping district looked like the one in the last town.

The carriage came to a stop and the rider called for the two that were riding with him. "Alright, we're here!"

The first to come out of the carriage was Ahri, who had her cloak around her this time. Grey came out afterward, uncaring that the woman covered herself with her cloak all of a sudden.

"Thank you," the Abyss Watcher said to the driver, who nodded in return.

Grey and Ahri walked away from the carriage, going through the town's shopping district. The Abyss Watcher was planning to ask around, hoping to find more information on where he is, and where to go next. Ahri, however, already knew where she needed to go.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways," the woman said before looking at Grey. "While it was short, it was nice to meet you, Grey," honestly, she would have liked it if she learned more about this strange man, but you can't have everything, she supposed.

"Likewise," Grey replied, again with little emotions. The Undead swordsman didn't particularly enjoy the ride, but he thought that it could have been worse. "Take care of yourself," he said before turning to the left and starting to walk away.

Ahri simply looked at Grey as his form disappeared between the crowd. She can still see his pointy metal hat moving away. "I wonder where he could be going?" she asked no one in particular. She shrugged her shoulders and turned around, walking towards her own direction.

Unknown to her, two men from in front of a weapons shop were following her movement with their eyes. "Is that her?" one of them asked in a hushed tone.

The other one, who managed to see Ahri's face under her cloak, looked at a piece of paper he was holding. The paper had a slightly rough black painting of Ahri. "Yes, that's her."

"Alright, do we go now?" the First one asked thinking it would be a good time to move.

"No, too many people," the second immediately denied seeing the crowded shopping district. "Plus, we're supposed to call for the others. Let's follow her for now."

The first one nodded seeing the logic behind what his companion said. They both then started following Ahri, making sure to keep distance in order not to be spotted.

When they were gone, however, Grey came out from behind the weapons shop that they were standing in front of. He had already spotted the two staring at him and Ahri since they came out of the carriage, but he wasn't sure who they were after.

Normally, if they were after him, he would pay them no mind and continue on his way. However, seeing that they were after Ahri, he couldn't simply turn his back on it. He might turn his back on his emotions and what makes him a person, but not on what makes him human.

So, with his goal clear, he started secretly following the two men, doing a far better job at hiding then they are, despite his taller body and his equipment.

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**This chapter was supposed to show how Grey caught Ahri's interest, or curiosity to be more precise.**

**I hope I didn't mess it up. Because I think I have some writer's block lately.**

**This chapter is also meant to show some of Grey's skills, as well as a build-up for the next chapter.**

**Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)**


	4. 3

_"Surely you have seen for yourself… the pain and suffering that fills this world."_

**Third POV:**

It has been a couple of hours since Ahri had separated from the mysterious man named Grey. She has been walking through the village, trying to find a ride to the next town to save herself the trouble of walking there. "I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything," another merchant on the ground said, answering her question about where she can find a ride.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan sighed. "Thank you for your time," she said politely before she started moving away while keeping her cloak covering her.

Honestly, she was tempted to walk there just so she can take the cloak off during the way. Keeping her tails so restricted wasn't very comfortable. Plus, her ears also preferred to be uncovered instead of having the hood of the cloak on top of them.

Ahri then looked over her shoulder, to see two familiar men at the merchant where she used to be. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She had noticed them stopping at every place she was at right after she left, trying to look like they were shopping. They were trying to follow her unnoticed, but they weren't doing a very good job in her opinion.

This isn't the first time someone was after her. After all, she was the legendary Demon fox that took people's souls. That reputation was bound to get people after her. She honestly blamed no one but herself for that. But, her guilt wasn't strong enough to let her give up her life like that… yet.

Ahri knew that she couldn't exactly lose them in the crowd. After all, it wasn't really that hard to find someone who was covering their entire body in a cloak in the middle of a town filled with traditionally dressed people and taking off the cloak would only make her stick out more.

Seeing no other option but to either confront them or ignore them. The first one was more dangerous since it might leave her open for attacks. So, she had to lead them somewhere and confront them. This was her fight, the people around had nothing to do with it.

Looking around, she spotted an alley that would lead to one of the edges of the village. Ahri walked through the people and entered the alleyway, wanting to get out of the place.

"She's moving," one of the men noted as he saw where she took off. "That leads towards the forest. We'll make a move there," he told his partner who took out a strange, rectangular whistle before blowing on it.

To the people around, it looked like a grown man playing with a children's whistle, so they didn't pay it any mind. But, in truth, they were calling for their partners who were spread out and getting ready for their signal so they can strike.

Ahri had made it out of the village and into the forest. It was sunset, so the place was covered in an orange glow. The shadows of the large trees gave a slightly dark aura to the area. She made sure to make a safe distance from the village before looking around.

The only thing around her was trees. No people. No animals. Perfect for a little scuffle. "I know you're there, come out," Ahri said as she turned around.

However, now she realized that this would far more than a little scuffle. What came out of the woods were 12 men, all surrounding her in a circle. Ahri immediately cursed her cloak. If her ears weren't covered, then she might have heard these people gather while following her.

They were all wearing a dark silver armor the covered their shoulders, chest, forearms, and knees. The chest plate had a blue diamond in the center with golden edges. They were wearing dark brown pants with a chain-mail shirt for extra protection. They held a variety of short-range weapons, such as swords, maces, and clubs.

Ahri narrowed her eyes suspiciously at their armor. The men who were wearing it were Ionian, but the armor was not. Searching through the memories she has stolen, she recognized the armor as Demacian. Why Ionian men would wear Demacian armor confused her, but she still kept her guard up.

"Is there something I can help you with, gentlemen?" the Nine-Tailed Vastayan asked, trying to get some knowledge on who these people are.

"Take off that cloak," one of the men ordered, holding up a sword in an attempt to look threatening.

Ahri simply smirked under her hood. "Oh, so you are a bunch perverts?" she teased at their question. Normally, this wouldn't be a good time for joking, but any chance to get to her opponents' heads could be helpful.

"We know it's you, Demon Fox," one of them called out. Even though being called that hurt, she didn't even show any signs of it. After all, she believed it was her fault for getting that title in the first place.

Ahri decided that there was no point for the cloak anymore, she took it off, but not without making a show. First, she lowered to reveal her beautiful features, which immediately caught their attention. She then sensually took off her cloak slowly, making sure to show off each of her curves one at a time while running her hands at her sides and spreading her tails.

All the men were enthralled by her beauty, which was exactly her plan. Men were easy prey for her. Some didn't even need her to charm them. Just a sultry look, a flash of her beauty, some suggestive body language, and they were pretty much toys for her to play with.

Seeing that they were distracted, Ahri created an orb of magical energy and immediately threw it at one of the men in front of her, aiming to finish this off as soon as possible.

However, much to her shock, when the orb struck its target, it shattered like glass before the pieces faded away. "Magic Resistance armor," the man she attacked smirked while tapping his chest plate. "Straight from Demacia's Mage Seekers," Ahri growled now knowing why the armor was Demacian. The Mage Seekers were a special force in Demacia meant precisely to deal with magic users, and that's exactly what she is. "Now, are you going to come quietly or what?"

Ahri getting into a battle stance by crouching slightly and raising her hands was all the answer they received. They all raised their weapons ready to attack. The first one to move was a man from behind the Nine-Tailed Vastayan, who came in swinging a club at her head. Ahri immediately side-stepped, dodging the strike before grabbing the man's extended arm and throwing him over her shoulder, where he ended up colliding with one of his allies on the right.

The men seemed shocked. They obviously didn't expect her to be able to use hand-to-hand combat. Ahri immediately thought they were stupid for believing that she survived this whole time just because of her magic. She wasn't a master in any way, but she still can take on pretty tough opponents.

Ahri looked at the shocked men around her with a smirk. "Now, who else wants to try their luck?" she taunted.

Her threat was answered by another one of the men coming in and swinging a sword at her from the side. Using her agility, the Nine-Tailed Vastayan jumped over the blade and kicked the attacker's face. She gracefully landed on her feet after doing a back-flip in the air.

Two of them attacked her at the same time, trying to catch the woman off guard. Ahri waited for the perfect moment before using her magic to empower her feet and jump high in the air, resulting in the two men clashing their weapons together.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan might not be able to use her magic to hurt them, but she can definitely use it to help herself. Descending to the ground, Ahri landed on the heads of the two men that just tried to attack her and used her feet to smash their heads together before jumping off them.

Landing on the ground, Ahri was given no rest as another one came in swinging mace. She jumped away at the side… but then a robe coiled around her leg. The Nine-Tailed Vastayan was pulled to the ground, where she barely managed to land on her feet. She managed to see the other end of the robe being held by one of the men that didn't attack her yet.

Before Ahri can make an attempt at burning the robe with her magic, a man with a club came in and struck her at the side, making her grunt in pain as she was thrown to the ground. Two of the attackers immediately jumped onto her and held her down so that she couldn't move.

After some struggling, the two men that jumped at her pulled her up on her feet while holding her arms tightly to make sure she couldn't move them. Ahri struggled in their hold, trying to pull her hands free but couldn't. She was about to use her tails to send a magical bolt to their heads, but the man with the robe threw it around her tails and immediately tied them together while holding onto them to restrain them.

Ahri grunted being completely immobilized. "Finally," one of the men she attacked grunted while rubbing his head in pain. They all gathered in front of Ahri as three of them held her. "Hey, boss, you don't mind if we have fun with her after all the trouble she gave us, right?" he asked as he and the men looked over Ahri.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan stopped struggling. "Oh, you caught me," she said sounding helpless. She raised her head and looked at the men around her as her eyes glowed a pink color. "Whatever shall I do?" she asked but her tone was sarcastic this time.

Her charm magic did its work and most of the men ended up staring at her in trance, including the ones holding her. Their grip started to soften and she was almost set free.

However, Ahri was then punched in the gut. The pain caused her to lose concentration and her magic started to wear off. "Don't fall for it, idiots!" the one who punched her, who was most likely their leader, yelled as the men around broke out of her charm. "Remember how many people fell for her tricks," he suddenly grabbed Ahri by the throat as the men let her go and he raised her in above the ground. "And no, you can't touch her. Do you have any idea how much extra we get if we sell her in mint condition?" he smirked thinking of the money that selling her and how it would be more than enough to make up for the very expensive armors they were wearing.

That statement answered one of Ahri's questions about these people. Now she realized that they probably were after her to sell her for slavery. Beautiful women like her cost a lot if sold like slaves, especially Vastaya since they stay young for quite a long time, thus their looks stay with them.

Ahri had been wondering why they were after her. She suspected it was either because of a bounty or as an act of revenge against one of her past victims. Her thoughts were cut off as the leader threw her away and she ended up colliding with a tree, causing her to scream in pain.

"Now, grab her, and this time, knock her out so don't fall for her tricks," the leader ordered and one of the men nodded as he went to grab her.

Ahri growled as she sat up, supporting herself with one hand while using the other to hold her side. The strike from the club still stung, but she should be alright after a while. However, she did not have that time.

One of the men, the same one that hit her with his club, made his way towards her and raised his weapon in an intent to knock her out. Ahri growled not seeing a way out. Their armor protected them from her magic, and she was in too much pain to control the man's emotions.

Ahri closed her eyes, preparing for the pain that was sure to come with the club knocking her out… But, she didn't feel any. The only thing that happened was that she heard something cut through air and flesh as a thud was heard.

The unmistakable smell of blood made its way to her nose, along with something else. The smell of a wolf. Ahri opened her eyes and they widen seeing the body of the man that was about to attack her on the ground… headless.

The head wasn't that far from the body. Ahri looked at whoever her savior is, and saw a fluttering, blood-red cape and a pointy metal hat. After a couple of seconds, she recognized who they were. "Grey?" she asked in disbelief.

The Abyss Watcher simply turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder. She can almost see his blue eyes through the small mask. In his right arm was his Farron Great-sword, and in his left arm was the dagger that accompanied it.

"Who are you!?" the leader of the men asked for this stranger that appeared out of nowhere and killed one of his men. Ahri was also confused, but more of why he was here.

The Undead Swordsman simply turned back his head to the men. "Who I am should not matter to a soon to be dead man," he said raising his sword and pointing its tip at them.

"Do you know who she is?" the leader asked wanting to make sure that it wasn't just someone out to steal their catch. The Abyss Watcher shrugged his shoulders, showing that he doesn't have an idea. "She's a legendary Demon Fox! She's known in most of Ionia. She tricked countless people over the years before stealing their souls!" he explained.

Ahri looked down at the ground. She couldn't bring herself into seeing Grey's judging look. She would not completely blame him if he turned on her now that he knows her past sins. The leader was expecting the same thing and smirked thinking that maybe he can bribe the Undead Swordsman into getting on their side.

"That's it?" both Ahri and the men looked at the Abyss Watcher in disbelief. "Is that all she did?" he asked as if it wasn't that big of a crime.

Ahri was actually more shocked than the men. She herself would be the first to admit that her crimes were downright monstrous. But, the Undead Swordsman seemed as if it meant nothing to him.

Truthfully, Grey could not understand why taking souls seemed to be such a sin. Literally, everyone did it back where he was from. In fact, souls were pretty much currency where he's from, and barely anyone used things like gold and silver.

"What is wrong with you?" the leader questioned, not believing that Grey was completely sane from his response.

Grey did not answer, he simply swung his sword at his side and prepared for battle. The men were going to prepare but didn't have the time as a red blur dashed towards and cut one of them in half from the side. The men saw Grey standing at where the man used to. Even Ahri was caught off guard by his speed.

Not giving the men a chance to recover, Grey swung upwards at another man who barely managed to block using his sword, but it ended up being thrown out of his hand at the strength Grey used. The man was left wide open for the Abyss Watcher to swing his sword back downwards and cut him down.

One of the men charged at him from the back with a mace. The Undead Swordsman swiftly spun around swinging his sword. Thanks to its large size, Grey's sword managed to cut the man on half from the side of his midsection before he got close enough to attack.

Grey raised his sword near head-level and pointed it forward before dashing it two of the men. One of them was impaled in the chest, the Farron Great-sword going through the chest plate as if it wasn't even there. The man beside them was about to jump away but didn't get the chance as Grey's dagger was stabbed through the side of his head.

The Abyss Watcher pulled his weapons out of the now-dead men and turned to the remaining six. Ahri, who was leaning back on the tree she was thrown at, could only stare in shock at what happened.

In less than a minute, Grey managed to kill half of the men. Ahri can tell by his posture that he wasn't even going all out. She can tell that this battle was beyond one-sided. However, something else caught her attention. From the bodies of the dead men, dark silhouette of air, somewhat like the life essence she would steal, floated and would vanish in his body.

Meanwhile, Grey was questioning if he even needed his weapons for this. These men were barely stronger than the average Hollow. He didn't doubt that the only reason they actually beat Ahri was because of their numbers or because they used a trick, maybe both.

He put those thoughts in the back of his head. This wasn't the time to worry about such things. So, raising his sword, he jumped dashed towards the men as they've hesitantly stared at him this whole time. Probably scared of attacking.

Three of the remaining men all raised their swords in an attempt to stop his attack. They all managed to block the sword as it was about to slice their heads off, but Grey then swept his dagger from the side, cutting into their necks and making them start choking on their own blood.

As the three men fell on the ground and started dying, the Abyss Watcher swept his sword upwards at another one of the remaining men, sending him and a part of the ground into the air, before he fell to the ground and his chest was stabbed by Grey's sword.

One of the last two thought that he has a chance now that Grey's sword was in the ground. So, after steeling his resolve, he came in swinging a sword at the Abyss Watcher, trying to cut him down.

However, Grey used his knife to parry the man's sword, leaving him wide open for the Abyss Watcher to bring back his knife at bury it at the side of the man's head, killing him instantly.

Grey pulled out his weapons and turned towards the last remaining man, which was their leader. The man took a few steps back, frightened after seeing what happened to his men.

He could hardly believe what happened. After all the trouble they went through to get the Mage Seekers armor, months of planning and searching for the Nine-Tailed Fox, he just watched all his men and plans slaughtered in front of his eyes.

He had to get away from this… this monster. He immediately turned around and tried to run away. However, before he even finishes taking the first step, a sword shot out of his chest as Grey stabbed him in the back.

The Abyss Watcher pulled out his sword and let the leader's body fall lifeless on the ground. He swung his blade at the side, getting rid of the blood that was on it before strapping it to his back and his dagger to his waist.

After making sure they were all dead and counting the bodies, Grey walked towards Ahri, who was a little cautious of him and knelt towards her. "Can you move?"

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan was slightly taken back by the question. She was expecting him to ask if she was alright but instead asked if she can move. "Y-Yes, and I should be alright," she told him.

The Undead Swordsman nodded and stood up. "We should go around the village, just in case there's more of them," he suggested. Truthfully, he wouldn't have trouble dealing with them, but he didn't want to get the villagers involved.

Ahri nodded understanding the logic behind his suggestion. With a grunt and some pain, she stood up and started following Grey as he started leading her around the village to the other side.

True, she had a chance to run away now. However, with her side hurting her, Ahri wasn't very confident that she can outrun him after seeing his speed. So, she decided to play it safe and stay with him. But, that didn't stop her from preparing some magic, just in case.

**...**

It was now midnight, the moon was high in the sky and was basking the entire forest with its light. One could almost hear the sound of owls through the area. Along with that sound was two pairs of footsteps.

Ahri and Grey have managed to go around the forest without any trouble. They were now traveling through the Ionian forest without a destination. Ahri figured out that Grey was probably just making some distance from the village to avoid any trouble. She was actually thankful for that, especially since she didn't have her cloak anymore.

Suddenly, the Abyss Watcher stopped, causing her to do the same. "We should make camp here," he said looking around at their current location. They were deep in the forest, so spotting them should not be easy.

Ahri nodded, agreeing with him. Truthfully, her legs had been tired from all the walking. Not to mention that she still hasn't fully recovered from the attack. She went to sit on the ground with her back leaning on a tree. Grey walked towards another tree and pulled out his sword to use to cut down some of the close tree branches so they can make a fire.

Gathering the branches, Grey sat him on the ground and started to look for something to help him make the fire. Ahri decided to help him out, and waved her hand, shooting a fox-shaped flame at the branches, instantly setting them on fire.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan was expecting him to be surprised. But, she didn't get any kind of reaction from him as he simply went towards another tree at the opposite side of her and sat down while resting his back on it. Truthfully, he already knew she was a mage after seeing her set the branches on fire while traveling at the carriage.

They just sat quietly, staring at the crackling fire as it burned through the branches. Finally, Ahri got fed up with the silence. "Why did you help me?" she asked wanting to know his reason. She was still cautious of him since the possibility of him just wanting her for himself didn't leave her head.

To answer her, Grey shrugged. "I don't know," his answer caused her to look at him in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. "I saw them following you in the village, and wanted to make sure you can take care of yourself," he explained before looking at her from the fire. "But, I want to ask you something," Ahri got ready for anything, from defending herself should he ask for some 'reward' to baring the insults that would come should he ask if what the leader of the attackers said was true. "Can you navigate this land?"

Ahri blinked a few times, almost like she didn't just believe her ears. That was his question? She then noticed that he was still looking at her, waiting for an answer. "Yes," she replied.

"Then I'll need your help with directions," Grey said before turning his gaze back towards the fire. "As I've told you before, I don't come from here," he reminded her of what he said during the carriage ride. True, he had the map that the farmer gave him, but he still didn't know the land, and that could be dangerous.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan just stared at the Abyss Watcher. She could not figure him out at all. He just saved her life and said he didn't know why. He wanted to ask her something, and he just asked for directions. And she still couldn't feel any emotions from him.

Ahri knew that what she's about to do was wrong, but she couldn't simply sit here knowing nothing about the man that was currently sitting at the other side of the campfire. So, putting all her magic into use, she looked into his eyes as her own glowed blue and started searching through his emotions to look for anything.

For the first few seconds, Ahri felt nothing. However, the deeper she looked, the deeper she noticed that something was there. Then, she felt it. Buried somewhere deep, VERY deep inside… sadness… pain… loneliness… guilt.

"What are you doing?" Ahri's was brought back to reality when Grey asked her a question and noticed that he was looking at her suspiciously.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan's eyes stopped glowing and she shook her head. "Nothing," she replied.

Grey kept looking at her for a few more seconds before returning his gaze into the fire. He noticed her eyes glowing, so he assumed she was using her magic. He didn't know what her magic was, but he let it go since he didn't feel anything out of place.

"Get some sleep," The Abyss Watcher told her. "I'll take the first watch."

Ahri looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. She laid down while using some of her tails as a cushion and the rest as a blanket. Normally, anyone else would be cautious to sleep near a stranger they saw kill an entire group of men. But, thanks to her ears, Ahri would be able to tell the very second he tries to do something, but for some reason, she doubted that he would.

While Ahri was falling asleep, she couldn't help but think back to what she sensed just now. She had seen cases like this before. Sometimes, when people experience a tragedy, they start burying their emotions so they don't feel pain anymore.

This explained why his magic didn't work on him before. People who locked away their emotions always took more power from her to control their emotions. However, Ahri had never seen a case this bad before. Grey's emotions were buried so deep, that she would bet that he didn't even need to try and keep his emotions in check anymore, that they were automatically locked away. It took all her power just so she can sense them, she can only imagine what it would take to control them.

Whatever happened to him must have been truly tragic for him to lock his emotions this deep down. Ahri felt some sympathy for him and wondered if there was a way to help him. But, she might not see him after tomorrow, so she just put those thoughts in the back of her head and went to sleep.

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**First, I had a lot of free time so I decided to post another chapter. This is still experimental, and I want to test how the plot is going with you guys.**

**Second, if you don't know who Demacia's Mage Seekers are, then just read Sylas' lore.**

**Third, I hope the reason why Ahri's magic didn't work on Grey makes sense.**

**And lastly, I hope I'm not rushing things or messing up anything. If I made a mistake here, then please point it out for me.**

**Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)**


	5. 4

_"Humans… such vile creatures."_

**Third POV:**

Faces… that was the only thing Ahri can see. Everywhere she looked there were faces. All looking at her with fear, hatred, and betrayal. But, that wasn't the most disturbing thing to the Vastaya. The most disturbing thing is that Ahri knew these faces… they were all her victims.

Each and every one of them crying in pain, screaming for revenge… however, one of those faces stood out the most. The one in front of Ahri was a blurry image, but clear enough to for her to see some of its features. It was a man with dark hair, who was looking at her heartbroken.

Ahri was panicking. She wanted to look anywhere but the man in front of her, even to the other faces. Because she knew exactly who it was. But, she couldn't. Her face was frozen, and her eyes were locked into his.

"You betrayed me," the blurry face in front of her said. Ahri could feel the tears of regret appear in her eyes. "You killed me… you killed us," he said motioning to the faces around them.

Ahri didn't say anything. Either because she couldn't move a single muscle on her body, or because she had nothing to say to make up for what she did, she didn't know. She didn't believe she had the right to deny what she did, especially to 'him'.

"Now, it is time for you to pay," the man's voice turned dark as shadows of clawed hands appeared all around and started reaching out to her.

Ahri can feel the clawed hands on her body, piercing her skin and drawing blood. She wanted to scream in pain, but the man grew his own hand made of shadows and grabbed her face causing her to be unable to say anything.

Ahri closed her eyes, waiting for her death and finally the end of this suffering… only to feel something slap her across the face, waking her up from her slumber.

Ahri gasped loudly as she started breathing heavily as if she was denied air for a while. She put a hand on her stinging cheek, wondering what happened before she finally got a hold of her surroundings.

Ahri was still in the forest, in the place that she and Grey had decided to make camp last night. She was still laying on the ground, in the same position she went to sleep in.

There were a few differences, however. For one thing, Grey was currently kneeling beside her, with his right hand positioned as if he just swung it, making her realize that he probably slapped her awake. The second thing is that the sun was beaming from the horizon, indicating that it was dawn.

"You were screaming in your sleep," Grey said, explaining why he woke her up in such a manner.

Ahri simply unwrapped her tails from around her and sat up on the ground. She was still holding her cheek and her breath, while it calmed down slightly, was still quicker than average.

This isn't the first time that this has happened. The nightmares, that is. Ahri actually had them more times than she'd like to admit. However, this is the first time she was told that she screams in her sleep. Maybe it was because she usually slept on her own, away from people.

It was really ironic, in her opinion. Someone who can control the dreams of others can't stop herself from having nightmares. Ahri suspects that it was her guilt stopping her. That she was doing this to herself as some sort of punishment for her sins.

"Hey," she was broken out of her thoughts after hearing Grey's voice. "Do I need to slap you again to get your attention?" he asked, making her realize that he was probably trying to talk to her but she was too caught up in her thoughts to notice him before.

Thinking it was better to answer his question rather than get another strike on her cheek, Ahri shook her head. "No, I-I'm sorry," she apologized, thinking of how rude it was for her to ignore him. "Thank you," she said in gratitude about waking her up from her nightmare.

The only thing Grey did to acknowledge her thanks was nod before standing up again. "We should be moving soon, get ready," he informed her.

The Vastayan woman nodded, as she slowly brought her knees to her chest and started getting her breathing back in control. She didn't actually have anything else to do. Ahri took out her gemstones and started clipping them together, unclipping them, and then repeating the process. Each of her two gemstones was shaped like a flame. And, when clipped together, they formed a perfect blue orb.

This was a habit she picked up when either passing time as she traveled around, or to help herself calm down a little. These gemstones were the only thing of her mysterious past, and it helped remind her that she might have somewhere she belongs to out there.

After spending nearly fifteen minutes doing the same thing, Ahri put her gemstones away in a hidden pocket at the back of her skirt before standing up. "Alright," she started before looking back at Grey. "We should leave."

The Abyss Watcher nodded before he started leading them outside the forest with Ahri following. He had stayed quiet to let her get a hold of herself. This isn't the first time he saw something like this. It probably meant that the woman had a terrible past. However, that wasn't his business. After all, he has his own past to deal with.

After a few moments of silence and walking through the forest, something clicked in Ahri's head as she looked at the morning sky. "Why didn't you wake me up to switch watches?" she asked looking at her current traveling partner. She went to sleep with the belief that he would get her own turn to watch.

The Undead Swordsman looked at her over his shoulder. "I never said we would switch," was his reply, causing her to groan in annoyance.

This day was not starting out well for her. First, there was the nightmare, which wasn't weird usually, then there was the fact she was woken up with a slap on the face, and now her traveling partner was being semantic. The only upside was that he didn't ask her about why she was screaming.

Remembering his request last night, Ahri asked, "You said you needed help with directions?" trying to pay him back for saving her and maybe go on their separate ways.

The Abyss Watcher suddenly stopped, causing the Nine-Tailed Vastayan to almost crash on his back not expecting that. She saw him searching for something in his cape before pulling out a rolled piece of paper. "Here," he gave her the paper. Ahri took the paper and unfurled it to see it was a map of Runeterra. It was a little old, but still accurate. However, she was about to point out that she didn't know in which part of the forest they were in since she didn't know which direction they left the village in, but she didn't need to. "We should be here," Grey came from her side and pointed at a spot in Ionia. "At the northwest of the village we were in."

Ahri had to admit that it was impressive that he can tell which direction the village they left was since she herself didn't know how to keep track of that after leaving it in one direction, and then going around it in another. "Alright, where do you want to go?" she asked.

"The Institute of War," Grey's answer received a shocked look from Ahri.

"You're… going to the Institute of War?" the Nine-Tailed Vastayan asked, making sure of what she heard.

Seeing her reaction, along with remembering that she said she travels for personal reasons, it was easy for Grey to understand why she was shocked. "You're going there yourself," it was more of a statement rather than a question.

Ahri sighed and rubbed her forehead with one hand while holding the map in the other. "I guess we're going to be around each other for a while," she didn't want to make it sound like she was forced into something she hates, but it still didn't change the fact that she was now traveling with an unknown stranger with an unnatural amount of mysteries.

True, she can give him the directions to another road, and she can take another one. However, the area around the way they're supposed to take is surrounded by mountains, which means there aren't any other roads to take.

"Can you lead us there?" Grey asked, wanting to find out if she can either help him or if he has to look for someone else to help.

Ahri held the map with both her hands again and nodded. "Yes, I can take us there, but it will be a long journey," she informed him as she believed that getting to the Institute should take around two weeks, less if they managed to find any rides.

"That won't be an issue," the Abyss Watcher couldn't care less about how long it takes. Being an undead that has lived for nearly centuries, his sense of time grew dull. "As long as you can take us there," he added, making it obvious that she would be on her own if she couldn't.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan got the message, and she couldn't exactly hold it against him, mainly because she believed that she would have done the same. "Right," Ahri turned her attention back to the map. Looking at their location, along with where their position from the village, she managed to find out what direction to go. "Alright, follow me," she instructed as she began walking deeper into the forest.

The Abyss Watcher nodded and, this time, it was his turn to follow her as she started leading him through the forest, she kept looking through the map. He took this chance to start looking around the forest and to get a better idea of where he is.

Despite being here for a few days, he did not acquire much knowledge of where he was. All he knew is that this region was called Ionia, and, from what he saw, it has a nature-like traditional structure, he also heard a few villagers speaking about people called 'Noxians' in a hatred, whoever they were. But, that was pretty much it.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Grey requested, breaking the silence that had taken over them.

Normally, Ahri would be suspicious of someone asking her questions. But, after the other day, she didn't actually know what to expect. "What is it?" she asked while taking glances at the map to make sure that they were on the right track.

"Can you tell me about this land, about Ionia?" Grey asked, getting straight to the point.

Ahri looked at him over her shoulder in confusion. He obviously didn't know anything about where he was. How can this person not know anything about the land he was in was surprising. "Where are you from?" she asked, knowing that the man could not be Ionian.

The Abyss Watcher decided to test something. "Farron Keep," when he saw Ahri's confused look, he had to resist the urge to groan. He was hoping that at least one person knows about the swamps of Farron, but since no one seemed to have even heard of them.

Meanwhile, Ahri found another mystery about Grey. Never, in her own memories or any of those she has stolen, has she heard of a place called 'Farron Keep'. The Nine-Tailed Vastayan can tell the name he gave her was not fake since she heard him take a deep breath of frustration thanks to her ears, which means he was disappointed that she didn't know.

"How did you get here?" Ahri asked, hoping that the way he got into Ionia might give her a clue.

However, Grey suddenly stopped walking, causing Ahri to do the same and turn to face him. "I… don't know," he answered, sounding troubled. Ahri gave him a look that demanded more explanation. "I was fighting a few enemies, and… something grabbed me before I found myself in this land," he summarized what happened to him. He didn't mention the Abyss or the Darkwraiths, mainly because he didn't believe she would know what those were.

In her entire life, Ahri has never been so confused. The more she tried to understand Grey, the more mysterious he would become. She can tell that he isn't lying since he seems genuinely frustrated that she didn't know where he was from. So, he was telling the truth… or he could be crazy. Ahri has not completely rolled out that possibility yet.

Sighing at realizing that she would have to start from scratch, Ahri turned back to the direction she was walking a few moments ago and started speaking. "Well, this is going to be a long walk, so we might as well talk along the way," truthfully, Ahri was glad. She came to realize that the Abyss Watcher was not much of a talker while traveling. And, while she did enjoy some quiet time to enjoy the nature of the land, it gets really awkward if they stay silent for such a long time. "Alright, as you know, the land is called Ionia," Ahri started explaining while Grey followed her through the forest while listening to what she was saying.

**... **

Grey and Ahri had spent the entire day walking through the forest, and by now, they managed to pass by the mountains without any trouble. They didn't even encounter any animals, which Ahri suspected was because of that menacing aura that was coming off Grey. It was like pure blood-lust ready to be unleashed. She didn't feel threatened herself because she didn't feel any of it directed at her.

Most of the time was spent on the Nine-Tailed Vastayan explaining to the Abyss Watcher about the land to the best of her abilities. She always avoided any personal subjects or information, which Grey didn't ask about, much to her relief.

Meanwhile, the Undead Swordsman managed to understand plenty about the land thanks to his current traveling companion. Apparently, Ionia was a land of nature and spiritual arts, which is pretty self-explanatory, even though he didn't understand what was the difference between souls and spirits.

From what Ahri told him, the land used to be far more peaceful and kind, to the point where the attack on Ahri would have never happened in the past. However, after a land called Noxus invaded Ionia a few years ago and almost succeeded in conquering the land, Ionians grew much colder and violent, which wasn't surprising after war.

Truthfully, Grey thought that Ionia got lucky. If it was really as peaceful as Ahri had told him in its past, then that means that Noxus, a land already accustomed to war, could have succeeded in conquering it within months since Ionians have no experience in war. He had seen that happen before to victims of the Catacombs of Carthus or Wolnier the Conqueror. But, they still managed to fight back, and drive away the invaders. They were resilient if anything in Grey's eyes.

Ahri also informed him that the land was not ruled by any king or lord, but a council called the Ionian Elders, a group of supposedly the most spiritual and wisest people. However, she also informed him that there have been questionable things about the elders in recent years, so they aren't completely trustworthy.

The sun had already set on the horizon. Stars started appearing as the sky slowly turned black. Grey and Ahri were currently walking the side of the final mountain in the area. The moonlight was the only thing that shined through the forest as they walked through the trees.

However, Ahri came to a sudden stop as she started looking around. Grey saw her ears twitching in a few directions, meaning that she heard something. "There's… people around here, but something isn't right," she explained. She can hear people, that's for sure. But, she also hear chains, what seems to be weapons, and… crying. "We should see what that is," she suggested and Grey nodded.

Changing direction to where she heard the noise, the Nine-Tailed Vastayan led them through the forest before they stopped by a few bushes. Pushing the leaves away, the managed to see what was going on.

What they saw was a camp. More than a dozen tents were spread out in a clearing in the middle of the forest. There were also a few racks where weapons were being kept. However, what drew their attention was the people in it.

There were two kinds of people in the camp. The first kind of people was a group of men that was wearing black armor on their shoulders, chests, and legs. Red silk was attached to the shoulders of the armor, and their heads were covered by spartan like helmets. It didn't take Ahri even a minute before knowing they were Noxians.

The other group of people was a few men, women, and children who were on their knees being held by chains. They were all wearing Ionian robes that looked a little roughed up, implying that they were obviously forced into being here after being beaten up.

The Noxians were apparently celebrating, each of them had a mug made of wood in their hand and were drinking. The captive people were looking down. Their faces showing fear, hatred, anger, and desperation.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" Grey whispered to her, looking around the camp.

Ahri then noticed a few horses near a couple of carriages of Ionian built nearby. After a few seconds of thinking, she managed to piece it together. "Those are probably Noxian strays," Ahri explained while pointing at the Noxians. "There's still a few of them left ever since the war," she then pointed at the captives. "Those are probably just Ionian merchants who got unlucky. The Institute of War forbids actions like these, so that also means that these Noxians are doing this on their own," she explained.

The Abyss Watcher nodded, understanding the situation. Ahri then turned around and started walking away. "Where are you going?" Grey asked her.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan sighed. "Look, this isn't our business. So, let's do the smart thing, and just walk away before we're caught," she knew very well that she was being cruel by both literally and figuratively turning her back on these people. However, her luck with people has been nothing short of terrible in her life, so she thought it would be better to just leave them.

Grey can understand her reasoning. After all, why would she risk her life for total strangers without any benefit in return? He didn't need to help either. However, upon looking back at the camp, he caught sight of one of the Noxians kicking down a little child, seemingly just for the fun of it as the others laughed. Seeing this cruelty, something clicked in Grey's head.

_"(Why!? Why didn't you save us!?)"_

_"(You Abyss Watchers are a curse!)"_

_"(No! Please! No!)"_

_"(I was once human like you!)"_

_"(All of you Farron's Watchdogs are monsters!)"_

_"(Blood… Blood… Blood!... BLOOD!... FEAR THE WOLF'S BLOOD!)"_

If one was to look closely, they would have seen Grey's eyes turn red as his pupils turned to slits and wolf's growling was heard.

Meanwhile, the Noxian that had kicked the child a few moments ago picked up his sword and started walking forward, most likely to finish the job. The child started crawling backward, praying to the spirits of Ionia that anyone would come to his rescue.

The Noxian raised his sword in the air. However, he didn't even get the chance to fully raise it before a red blur came out of the forest and passed by him while the sound of flesh being cut was heard.

Suddenly, the Noxian fell down in two pieces, having been cut from the waist. The rest of the Noxians looked in shock at where their friend used to stand, only to see Grey standing in front of his two halves.

The Undead Swordsman cast his now red eyes on the rest of the Noxians, who immediately started picking up their weapons. He didn't even pay mind to the Ionians that were currently cowering behind him as he raised his sword and got ready for the battle.

Meanwhile, Ahri could not believe what she just saw. Her traveling companion just did exactly the opposite of what she asked him to do. She could only stare in shock as he began fighting the Noxians.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan groaned and started rubbing her forehead. "Well, he got himself into this trouble, he can get himself out," she said as she turned away and got ready to leave.

Ahri can just walk away. She had the map, and she can get to the Institute on her own easily. All she has to do… is turn her back on someone who saved her life… and innocent people that were obviously in danger.

She clenched her hands and shut her eyes while shaking her head in anger. "That son of a…" Ahri groaned in frustration before turning back to the camp and moving in.

Back in the battle, Grey has cut down another Noxian before another one came in swinging down a battle ax. The Abyss Watcher used his dagger to parry the strike, causing the ax to turn and end up hitting the ground. Before the Noxian has the chance to raise his ax again, Grey swung down his sword, cutting his head off.

Two more Noxians were running towards the Abyss Watcher from the back. Grey was ready to deal with them… only for Ahri to suddenly jump in behind Grey and in front of the two Noxians, create two large orbs of fox-fire, and through them at the incoming attackers, burning them and sending them away.

Ahri glared at her traveling companion over her shoulder. "I hate you," she had never thought that she'd say those words with such passion before.

"You are not the first," Grey replied, and Ahri could honestly feel one of her eyes twitching.

They both turned back towards the Noxians as they surrounded them. There were around twenty Noxians, all armed, and there were just the two of them… truthfully, Ahri and Grey both wondered how this was fair for the Noxians.

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**First, about the man that showed up in Ahri's dream. If you read her short story, the Garden of the Forgotten, then you should have a pretty good idea of who it was.**

**Second, as you can see, Grey is less trusting in this story, which is something I noticed about the old version. That he was too trusting.**

**Third, if you noticed, Grey had something similar to a trauma, which some of you pointed out that it should happen considering where he comes from. So, I decided it should happen.**

**Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)**


	6. 5

_"You would have done better to rot in the Undead Asylum. Take a seat. Make yourself comfortable. We'll be Hollow before you know it. Hehehe."_**Third POV:**

In the middle of the night, shrouded in the darkness of the forest, three figures jumped from tree branch to tree branch in the Ionian jungle, headed to the side of the mountains. The light of the moon gave some view on those figures.

One of them was a well-built man wearing dark blue robes that covered most of his body except the arms, which were covered in gauntlets made of silver metal. He was wearing a mask with a metal star between his eyes, which seemed to be glowing. On his back were two swords, one covered in cloth and runes, while the other was a short katana in a normal sheath.

The second figure was a young woman, most likely in her late teens. She was wearing an outfit that was similar to the man, but green and without any metal. Instead of a mask, she was wearing a green bandana that covered the lower portion of her face. She had dark hair tied to a messy ponytail. She wasn't wearing gauntlets like the man, and her pants were baggy with a small bag on her waist near her back.

The third figure was the smallest one. He was barely half the size of a normal person. His entire body was covered with purple robes that were similar style to the man and young woman. His eyes and a couple of furry ears were visible though.

"So, Shen," the woman started speaking while jumping from tree branch to another. "Why are we in such a hurry?" she asked the large man since he simply told them to get ready and follow him.

"Haven't you been paying attention, Akali?" the smallest one of the group said, addressing the woman. "Noxian strays are here, and we're going to deal with them."

"I know that, Kennen," the woman- Akali -rolled her eyes. "What I don't know is why we're in such a hurry to get them," she added explaining her previous question.

The man- Shen -jumped to another tree branch before answering. "A few merchants were supposed to arrive at the village we just passed, but they didn't, and their path goes through the territory where the Noxians were spotted," he explained.

Both Akali and Kennen immediately understood the gravity of the situation. They increased the pace of their movement, matching that of their master. All three of them were hoping to reach their destination before any innocent blood is shed.

Moving closer and closer to the Noxian camp, they started hearing noises. The first thing they heard was a few screams, which set off warning bells in their heads, but then they caught the sound of battle.

The three finally reached the edge of the camp, all of them stopped, standing on tree branches to see what was going on. What they saw was definitely not something any of them was expecting.

Inside the Noxian camp, two figures were taking down Noxians right and left. Those figures were Ahri and Grey. The two traveling companions were fighting the Noxians while the Ionian merchants were hiding near their stolen carriages.

Grey cut down another Noxian before jumping towards three of them. Anchoring his dagger on the ground, the Undead Swordsman spun around swiftly, using his sword to cut down all three soldiers in one fell swoop.

Standing back up, the Abyss Watcher saw a Noxian coming at him, raising a battle ax. Grey swung his sword upwards, forcing the soldier to use his weapon to block. However, the strength that Grey put in his swing caused the Noxian to be left wide open for the Abyss Watcher's dagger to pierce his chest, stabbing him in the heart and effectively killing him.

Like before, whenever Grey killed someone, a dark silhouette of air would float from the corpses and vanish inside his body. Honestly, he didn't see a need to take any more Sovereignless Souls, mainly because he didn't see anyone that uses them since appearing on this land.

However, taking Sovereignless Souls was a part of the Darksign, so he couldn't exactly turn it off. Normal souls, in contrast to Sovereignless ones, need him to actually go to the body and take them himself and seeing no reason to do that Grey simply left the Souls in their corpses.

Meanwhile, Ahri jumped to the side, avoiding a Noxian bringing down his sword at her. The Fox Vastayan immediately created an orb of Fox-fire, and threw it her attacker's head, burning it and killing him.

Ahri's ears twitched as she heard a noise. Looking over her shoulder, she saw two Noxians attempting to jump at her from behind. The Fox eared woman created an orb of magic between her hands and swiftly turned around, throwing it at her attackers.

The orb struck the soldier on the right passed through him while the other soldier kept on moving. Seeing that he was finally close enough to strike her, he reeled back a sword to cut her down.

However, at that moment, the orb that Ahri threw earlier came back and passed through the soldier from behind, killing him in the process. When Ahri got the orb back, she couldn't help but smile a little.

This was the only way that she can regularly take Life Essence without absorbing the memories. The spell Ahri used is called orb of deception, something she made herself to help with battle.

The reason she doesn't see any memories is because the amount of life essence that the Orb of Deception takes is too low for any memories to be stolen, but still enough to boost her powers a little. Ahri was actually glad that she doesn't see memories through this technique, mainly because it would be just a distraction in the middle of battle.

Speaking of battle, Ahri remembered her current situation and went back to fighting by creating an orb of fire and throwing it at the closest Noxian. She immediately jumped back into the fray and started fighting beside the Abyss Watcher.

Shen, Akali, and Kennen simply watched from the tree branches. They can tell that the Noxians didn't stand a chance despite their numbers, especially since those numbers were dropping fast.

Currently, there were barely half a dozen Noxians left. Every other soldier was killed. The ones that were left were obviously looking for a way out. One of the soldiers tried to run away, only for Grey to suddenly appear and cut him in half from the waist.

Ahri threw her Orb of Deception at one of the soldiers, who tried to block it with his sword, but it simply passed through him, and came back, killing him in the process.

Taking in the power she received from the orb, Ahri used it to create two powerful fox-shaped flames and sent them towards two of the soldiers, aiming for their heads to get an instant kill.

Two soldiers were left, and both of them decided to do the smart thing, which is running away. However, when they turned their backs, a red blur swiftly passed by them, and both of their heads were cut off.

The three Kinkou members were surprised to see Grey standing where the last two soldiers used to be. They were honestly caught off guard by the speed they had just witnessed, and how accurately he managed to cut their heads off.

Seeing that no Noxian was left alive, the Abyss Watcher swung his sword, getting rid of the blood on it before strapping it to his back and putting his dagger on his waist. "You couldn't have just stayed out of this, could you?" Ahri scolded as she walked towards him.

"No," Grey simply replied, his eyes turning to their usual blue color before Ahri can notice the crimson glow.

The nine-tailed Vastayan sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. If it wasn't for her guilt, she would have walked away and left him to deal with this on his own. But, then again, if it wasn't for her guilt then she wouldn't be going to the Institute in the first place.

"Let's set those people free," Grey suggested as he started walking towards the bound merchants. Ahri hesitated for a few seconds before joining him.

Akali, being so high in the trees, wasn't able to hear what Grey said, and assumed that he was trying to hurt those victims. "He's going for the people!" she exclaimed jumping down.

"Akali, wait!" Shen tried to stop her but it was too late.

Akali, while falling from the branch, threw a few kunais, all aimed at Grey's back. Ahri heard something and turned around to see the blades heading towards her traveling companion. She didn't even have a chance to warn him.

however, that proved to be unnecessary, for when the blades came close, Grey swiftly pulled out his sword and turned around, swinging the Farron Greatsword and deflecting the incoming attack.

The Abyss Watcher looked at the person who tried to sneak attack him as she landed on the ground. the first thing he noticed was that she wasn't wearing the same armor as those Noxians he killed and that what she was wearing was obviously meant for stealth and assassination.

Before anything could be said, Ahri's ears twitched again and she had to jump back to avoid being struck by an electric shuriken. Kennen landed beside Akali, two more stars in his hands that were covered in electricity.

Grey gripped his sword while Ahri prepared some magic, both ready to continue fighting. "Wait!" However, Shen then landed between his two students and raised his arms. "Please, we mean no harm," Akali and Kennen were confused while Grey and Ahri kept up their guard. "We had just came in to make sure that those merchants are alright. we did not come here to fight anyone."

Grey kept holding his sword while Ahri mentally cursed. She recognized those people and can tell they're from the Kinkou order. If they figure out who she is, the fox Vastaya didn't doubt that they were in for more fighting.

Meanwhile, Shen was hoping not to engage in any unnecessary conflict because his student misunderstood the situation. He can tell that neither the Undead Swordsman or the nine-tailed Vastaya had any intentions to harm those bound merchants and that they were simply planning to let them go.

"Who are you?" the Abyss Watcher asked, still ready to kill these people. True, they didn't look like the Noxians, but a different set of clothes did not mean their intentions were different.

"We come from the Kinkou order," Shen replied, still raising his hands to show them that he was harmless. "We heard that there are Noxian strays here, and we came to make sure that those who travel through this route would be safe."

The Undead Swordsman remembers Ahri mentioning the Kinkou order when she explained the land to him. Apparently, they were one of the few things that kept Ionia in one piece.

Looking at Ahri, Grey saw her shrugging her shoulders, showing that she didn't see anything wrong with cooperation. While she was worried that they would recognize her, the Nine-Tailed Vastayan also knew that fighting would only make things worse.

Grey strapped his sword on his back, while Ahri seemed to stop building up magic. Akali put her weapons away along with Kennen as Shen finally lowered his hands. "Thank you," he said, appreciating that they decided to be peaceful.

"Since you're here, you can help to set these people free," the Abyss Watcher simply replied as he turned around and went back towards the people to start releasing them with Ahri following close by.

Akali and Kennen looked at their master, waiting for instructions. They saw him nod his head, giving them a silent message to do as they were told. Seeing that they get to help those people, they didn't see a problem with that.

The people were somewhat hesitant, but when they saw the members of the Kinkou order come to untie them, they seemed to calm down. Although, they still remained cautious of the other two, Grey more than Ahri.

After a few minutes, and many people saying 'Thank you', all the people were now free and were getting together with their families and friends. Grey and Ahri were waiting near the edge of the camp as the three Kinkou members were checking on the people.

"Why didn't you just walk away?" Ahri was tired of not knowing why her traveling partner did the exact opposite of what she told him to do.

The answer she got was not the one she was looking for. "I don't know," Grey replied.

"Is that going to be your answer for everything you do?" Ahri asked, frowning at the Abyss Watcher's seemingly repeated response.

Truthfully, Grey truly didn't know why he saved those people, or why he saved Ahri in the first place. Maybe it was his guilt for the lives he couldn't save, or maybe it was redemption for the lives that he took, or even maybe because he simply wanted to kill those men. He honestly couldn't tell.

His thoughts came to a halt when he heard a weird sound, two voices to be exact. One was a soft feminine humming while the other was a dark male chuckling. Looking at where the sound came from, he saw it came from where the Noxian corpses were.

For a short second, Grey saw two figures above the dead bodies. They vanished as soon as he saw them, but he did see that both figures were covered in fur. One being pure white while the other was pure black, and that was all he can see in that moment.

He couldn't think more on that because he saw Shen coming over with his two students. "They are all fine, aside from a few minor wounds. Thankfully, no one was killed," he said getting a nod from the Abyss Watcher. "You have my gratitude for helping those people, but what were you doing here so far in the mountains?" he asked.

"We were traveling," Grey replied. Ahri remained quiet, hoping to not draw attention to herself as she kept looking away. "We came upon this camp by accident on our way," he explained, avoiding mentioning their destination.

The master of the Kinkou nodded. Akali, who had been suspiciously looking at Ahri, leaned towards her master and whispered. "Shen, that woman-"

"I know," Shen was no stranger to the tales of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and he hardly thought that it was a coincidence that this woman filled its description.

The Eye of Twilight had already seen a few of her victims a long time ago while investigating with his father and his former friend, Zed. However, they were too preoccupied with trailing the Golden Demon, so they couldn't exactly spend time looking for her.

Of course, if this woman really is the Demon Fox, then Shen knew that a lot of innocent people died at her hands. However, she did save those people, so the least Shen can do is ignore her presence just this time.

What truly gained his attention was her companion. In all his years of leading the Kinkou order and even before that, Shen had never seen a Warrior like this. He couldn't recognize where the armor or the weapons were from.

There was also this dreadful aura that surrounded the Abyss Watcher. Looking into Grey's eyes, Shen couldn't help but compare it to looking into the eyes of a starving wolf that was ready to bounce on his prey.

"Are we free to leave?" Shen's thoughts stopped upon hearing Grey's question.

The Undead Swordsman wanted to make sure that the Kinkou members were not against them leaving, mainly because he didn't want to get into trouble with what is supposed to be the law enforcement in this nation… yet, at least.

"Yes, you may leave," Shen nodded. He wanted to know where they were going, but that wasn't actually his business. "Thank you again for saving those people."

The Abyss Watcher simply nodded and turned around to leave. Ahri felt relieved, believing that she wasn't recognized and was about to start following her traveling companions, intending to scold him, but then felt something poking her side.

Looking down, Ahri spotted a little girl, one of the people they saved. She had black hair tied into pigtails and was wearing a simple white dress. The girl was looking up at Ahri, looking a little hesitant.

Ahri was surprised that the girl approached her, but managed to hide her surprise under a warm smile. "Is there something you need?" she asked.

The little girl nodded and motioned with her hand for Ahri to get closer. The Nine-Tailed Vastayan knelt down, thinking the girl was going to whisper something to her. However, much to her shock, the little girl wrapped her arms around Ahri's neck and gave her a hug.

Ahri looked absolutely stunned. Her arms returned the hug out of pure instinct. She truly didn't know what to do. She was used to people acting in fear or something else negative around her unless her magic was used, with only one exception… well, two of them now that she thought of Grey.

The little girl let go after a moment and mumbled, "Thank you, miss," before walking away to the other people.

Ahri was still in her kneeling position, still comprehending what happened. After a few moments, she shook her head and stood up again. She saw that Grey was still standing there, waiting for her.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan was grateful that he didn't seem to mention what just happened as he simply turned around and began to walk away. Ahri followed him as they went out of the camp before she pulled out the map and began to silently lead them.

When those two were out of sight, Akali turned to her master. "So, why did we let the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox get away?" she asked, confused that they didn't capture someone who is said to be so dangerous.

"We could not have made sure it was the same person as those stories, so there's no reason to capture her," neither Kennen nor Akali believed for a second that this is what their master was actually thinking.

Both students knew that the Eye of Twilight was simply repaying Ahri for saving those people. In all honesty, a part of them agreed, even though they still thought that they should have at least questioned where the two traveling companions were going.

"Akali, Kennen," Shen's voice gained their attention. "I want you two to go do some research."

"On the Demon Fox?" Kennen asked.

However, much to his surprise, the leader of the Kinkou order shook his head. "No, on the man that was with her."

"Glad I wasn't the only one who thought he was creepy," Akali commented. She had also noticed that scary aura around the Abyss Watcher, especially when he was holding his sword.

Shen ignored his student's comment. "Trail the path they came from and find out anything you can about him," the Eye of Twilight wanted to play it safe with this unknown individual.

The leader of the Kinkou order didn't believe that a man with gear that unique and skills like that in battle would remain unnoticed for so long, especially with the Institute of War making all kinds of warriors stand out.

Something was definitely off about the strange man, and Shen was intending to find out. After all, you can be too vigilant with people like Khada Jhin being free because of the Institute's protection to champions.

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**First, I'm sorry if this chapter is just a filler, but it was a little necessary.**

**Second, about Shen letting Ahri go. Shen believes in Balance, so when Ahri did good, she had to receive good for things to be balanced out. Besides, can you really see him capturing her after she saved those people? Zed might do it, but not Shen.**

**Third, as I'm sure you noticed, Grey managed to get a glimpse of the Eternal Hunters. That will be explained in later chapters.**

**And lastly, in this version, you can clearly see that Grey is more emotionally conflicted and more undead-like than the other versions. I hope I got that right.**

**Again, thank you for reading. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)**


	7. 6

_"Your eyes… the eyes of a wolf who lost everything."_

**Third POV:**

Walking all night until the sun rose wasn't something Ahri was particularly fond of. However, her mind was in a rather hectic state after the whole mess with Noxian strays last night. From encountering the Kinkou Order to that little girl that hugged her.

Grey stayed silent most of the way, only asking a few questions about the territory they were in. Right now, they were walking through an open field that was covered in wheat and small rivers of water from the mountains that were in the distance, having walked out of the woods a while ago.

The sky was already turning blue, and the only sound that was heard was their footsteps, the running water, and the chipping of the birds which were starting to wake up.

Honestly, this would be rather peaceful for Ahri if it wasn't for her silent traveling companion. Of course, she was used to traveling in silence, but having someone besides her was making it kind of awkward.

"How long until we reach the next town?" the Undead Swordsman asked suddenly. She was actually thankful that he started speaking.

Looking over the map, Ahri pinpointed where they were and replied, "Not that long. A couple of hours, at most."

However, Ahri's stomach suddenly growled in hunger, causing her to blush in embarrassment. "Perhaps we should stop to get food," Grey suggested as he came to a halt.

Ahri, however, kept walking and moved past him. "If we stop now, it'll take us longer to get to the village. Let's just keep going, and I'll buy something when we get there," she said, not wanting to waste time or appear as a setback for their traveling. The town they were going to reach was a rather big one, so she would undoubtedly find food there.

"So, does that mean you have the money to buy something?" at that question, Ahri came to a complete stop as she noticeably flinched.

Looking at the hidden pockets in her skirt, the only things she found were her gemstones and a couple of gold coins. Barely enough to get her a bottle of water and some bread. Ahri refused to accept that as a meal, and even refused more to trade her gemstones for food.

Maybe she should have taken some money from the Noxian camp. She doubted any of the soldiers there would need it, being dead and all. But, her mind was too preoccupied at that time. She didn't have her cloak anymore, so using her magic without getting noticed won't be easy.

Truthfully, Undead didn't need food, but they can still eat, just like when it comes to sleeping. Grey simply didn't want to resort to stealing just because his traveling companion was being stubborn.

With a reluctant sigh, Ahri turned to Grey. "Alright, I guess we can settle for a short break," she gave in before raising an eyebrow. "So, what will we be eating?"

"These rivers are long and come from the mountains," Grey said motioning to the rivers near the road they were walking. "Their water is also very clean, so we should be able to find some fish in them."

Looking at the river, Ahri saw that they were definitely big enough for someone to find fish in them. Plus, fish was one of her favorite food. So, she shrugged her shoulders and walked towards the river.

The Abyss Watcher followed her and they both stood at the edge, near the water. "Do you have something that can help fish?" he asked.

Ahri gave him a deadpan look. Since this was his idea, she thought that he was the one with the means to get their food. But, she was apparently hoping for too much.

Grey raised an eyebrow as he saw Ahri hand him the map. He took it from her and was about to ask her what was her plan when she suddenly jump-dived into the water, causing a large splash.

The Undead Swordsman realized that she gave him the map to keep it safe from getting wet. He simply looked at where her silhouette was in the water, wondering when she'll come out.

After a few moments, Grey started thinking that he would have to pull her out before she drowns, but she then came out of the water before going to the edge and pulling herself out.

Inside Ahri's mouth was a large fish that she was holding between her teeth. She hadn't hunted like this since her days with the ice foxes. She felt rather nostalgic to hunt like this again after so many years.

Ahri pulled the fish from her mouth and held it by the tail. She saw Grey looking at her and smirked. "Like what you see?" she asked, taking a pose to show off how her wet clothes clung to her glistening body.

The Abyss Watcher simply turned back to the river and pulled out his sword. Holding it in a reverse grip, he reeled back his hand and kept looking at the water. After a few seconds, he threw his sword like a harpoon.

Thanks to its size, the Farron Great-sword didn't completely sink. Its handle and crossguard still above water level. Grey knelt down, grabbed the handle of his sword, and pulled it out of water.

Ahri's eyes widen slightly as she saw three fishes, all the same size as the one she caught, impaled on Grey's sword as he pulled it out. The Undead Swordsman looked at her, and the Nine-Tailed Vastayan can swear she saw a glint of smugness in his eyes through that tiny mask.

"Show off," Ahri grumbled. She turned her back to her traveling companion and immediately rattled her tails to get the water out of their fur. She may have done it specifically to get some of it on Grey.

However, much to her disappointment, Grey didn't even seem to flinch as he simply walked by her. "We should find a place to eat," he suggested.

Ahri couldn't help but feel like he's trying to make her look like a child. She would admit that she acts childish sometimes, despite her age. But, the Abyss Watcher just made it feel so… insulting.

They found a place on the side of the road where there was a large rock. Grey gathered some wood, wheat, and sticks to cook the fish, while Ahri lit the wood on fire. The Undead Swordsman let the fish cook on sticks near the fire while he and Ahri sat down.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan created three, small floating, blue flames that started circling her body, helping her dry off after the short swim. She could use the fire they were cooking with, but this is far more useful.

Grey simply glanced at what she was doing before looking back at the fire. A part of Ahri felt insulted that he simply dismissed her in her current state, which is enough to charm most men without her magic. It's almost as if she wasn't good enough.

She knew that wasn't the case. She might not know him well, but Ahri can tell that the Abyss Watcher wasn't the type to make insults like that. Instead, he was the type that simply didn't care.

The Fox Vastayan felt very odd being around someone like that. It's as if the world can burn around him, and the Undead Swordsman would just set back and let the fires consume him.

"We need to speak about a problem," Ahri's thoughts came to a halt after hearing Grey's voice, causing her to look at him while he simply kept looking at the fire. "From what I've seen on the map, we will have to cross the ocean at one point. I highly we'd find someone who is willing to take us with them freely. So, we'll need to find a way to acquire some form of transportation."

"Don't worry about that," Ahri dismissed his worries while shaking her head. "I'll be able to find us something," she doubted it would be hard to charm a sailor into letting them take a ride.

Grey looked at her from the fire. "By using your magic?"

Ahri immediately moved one of her flames to her arm and attempted to intimidate the Abyss Watcher with it while glaring at him. "How did you know about that?" she asked. He could have heard about her abilities from the stories about her, but she knew that he had no knowledge of Ionia whatsoever, let alone her.

"I didn't," the Undead Swordsman replied, uncaring by her attempt at intimidation.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan tensed. She couldn't believe she fell for such a trick. Basically, he didn't know anything about her magic and was just suspicious, but she just confirmed that she has it.

Grey had noticed something wrong when meeting the carriage rider. He was too happy, even if it was a successful day. Plus, his eyes looked off, like Ahri's eyes but glowing blue slightly.

Also, while they were fighting the Noxians, Grey noticed that some of them were acting odd. Some of the Noxians that attacked Ahri suddenly stopped moving when they made eye contact with her, some of them even dropped their weapons.

"When did you figure it out?" Ahri questioned with a sigh, seeing no point in denying or stalling.

"During the fight with the Noxians," Grey replied. He could at least respect that she didn't deny anything. "Your magic, does it have something to do with controlling minds?" he didn't believe it was impossible, after seeing how the miracles of the Deacons of the Deep can affect someone's mind, which is why only the Pontiff did business with them.

Ahri simply extinguished the flames in her hand before just looking back at the fire. Truthfully, she didn't feel comfortable talking about her magic with anyone. It wasn't that she was self-conscience, it was simply because she didn't feel like anyone would trust her if they knew what it was. It was basically mind control, to some extent… not even he knew about her magic's true nature.

However, she also knew that not answering would make her even less trustworthy. "It's not mind control," she replied. Her magic was about emotions and illusions, sometimes even dream manipulation, but she never stripped people of their free will… at least she tried not to.

To her surprise, Grey simply nodded, saying, "I see," before looking back at the fire. She was expecting him to question her more, but she supposed it was a blessing that he didn't.

Truthfully, Grey just wanted to make sure she couldn't manipulate minds, mainly because he would have to keep an eye on her all the way to the Institute if that was the case. That would have been more annoying than tiring, and he wanted to avoid that.

They simply remained quiet as they waited for their food to finish cooking. Ahri honestly didn't know which was worse, being questioned or sitting here with someone who might as well be a statue from how passive he was about everything.

The fish was finished cooking and they split them in half, each of the traveling companions getting two fish. After eating the fish, Ahri yawned before laying her back on the rock they were sitting close to. "Do you need to sleep?" Grey asked.

The nine-tailed Vastaya shook her head. "No, give me a minute and I'll be ready," of course, she was lying. They spent yesterday traveling and then fighting, not to mention that they didn't get any sleep last night.

"We are not in a hurry, and the sun just rose, so if you want to take a quick nap that won't be a problem," the Abyss Watcher said. If his traveling companion was sleep-deprived, that would cause some problems. he preferred a long journey over a troublesome one.

Ahri can feel her eyelids getting heavier. "I don't really think we should waste time like this," she said before yawning again. "But… I guess a quick nap won't be so bad," she gave in, thinking that she deserved some sleep after last night.

the Nine-Tailed Vastaya moved her two of her tails between the rock and her head, using them as a pillow while covering her body with the rest, using them as a blanket. she closed her eyes, listening to the sound of running water from the rivers, which was quite calming, while the rock she was leaning on provided shade from the rising sun, which was behind her.

The Undead Swordsman simply watched as Ahri drifted into sleep. He can tell that she had trouble trusting people. However, he couldn't blame her remembering that those slavers that attacked her said that she was considered a monster from legends that stole the souls of her victims.

That was something that confused him. Where he was from, it would have been odd to see someone who doesn't use souls as currency. Maybe some nobles that preferred the shiny gold and silver coins, but they weren't many of them. However, it seemed that people here view it as a large crime, to the point where they dubbed Ahri as a monster.

From what Grey saw, Ahri herself seems to believe that, and that she holds a great deal of regret for her crimes, which was proven when she looked surprised when that little girl hugged her. She was obviously not expecting anyone to show her a kind gesture like that.

In all honesty, Grey thought that if there was a monster here, it would be him rather than Ahri. At least she still felt something about killing people, while it was as normal as breathing for him. He couldn't even remember the last time he felt anything when killing, be it regret, remorse, guilt, or hesitation.

* * *

Ahri's eyes slowly fluttered open as she woke up. She untangled her tails from around her and stretched with a yawn. "Are you finally awake?" Grey suddenly said, catching her attention.

The Abyss Watcher was seen sitting exactly where she last saw him. In fact, there were a few birds resting on his shoulders and metal hat, proving that he has not moved at all since she went to sleep.

"Did you just sit there and wait for me?" Ahri questioned, rather surprised. While it did sound creepy that he just sat there and watched her in her sleep, she had to admit that it was somewhat humorous to see the birds resting on him like that.

Grey simply stood up, causing the birds that were resting on him to get startled and fly away. "I have no knowledge of the land, and you were the one to lead us, so I would have been lost if I left without you," he explained.

At this point, Ahri supposed that she should start expecting more blunt answers from him. Basically, he was saying that he stayed because he needed her. It was true, but she didn't believe that he had to be so blunt about it.

She got up and saw that the sun was high in the air, implying it was noon. Which means that she was asleep for a few hours. "Did you get any sleep?" Ahri asked, not remembering her traveling companion close his eyes for more than a few seconds.

"No," was Grey's quick reply, making Ahri look at him questionably. He pulled out the map and handed it to the nine-tailed Vastaya before she voiced her concern. "We should get moving now that you're fed and rested."

Ahri took the map and gave the Abyss Watcher one last look. He didn't look tired, which meant that he is either used to not sleeping this long or he was simply good at hiding his exhaustion.

Either way, Ahri grabbed the map and took a look at where they were before going back to the road they were traveling. If he is exhausted and didn't show it, Ahri can use that as an excuse to scold him for his recklessness.

* * *

It had taken them nearly two hours to finally get to the village. Ahri felt somewhat self-conscious for walking in such a populated area without a cloak on her or having to sneak around. However, Grey's threatening presence seemed to ward off any unwanted looks.

"We need to find a way to acquire some payment," Grey suddenly said as they entered an alleyway.

"As I said, I can-"

"We cannot always rely on your magic, and I highly doubt that you can openly use it without causing problems," the Abyss Watcher cut Ahri's reply off, pointing out the flaws in her plan.

The Nine-Tailed Vastayan sighed, knowing that her traveling companion was right. Honestly, she was worried about the same problems, too. She thought that it would be better to take care of that now if they could.

Ahri suddenly stopped as something caught her eye. On one of the walls of the alleyway, there was an old poster that drew her attention. Walking towards it, Ahri pulled it off the wall and read through it.

"Look at this," she said handing the Abyss Watcher the paper.

Grey glanced at the paper before looking back at Ahri with what appears to be a deadpan look. "I can't read Ionian," he admitted.

While Ahri was annoyed that he only said that now, she also knew that she deserved some of the blame for knowing he doesn't know anything about Ionia and then expecting him to be able to read the language. it was a miracle that they can understand each other in the first place.

"It's an advertisement for something called 'the fighting pits'," Ahri explained after reading the paper. "I've heard about them. They're a perfect way for fighters to gain money," she said crossing her arms, going through the knowledge of the memories and rumors she heard.

"That does not sound like something Ionians would have?" Grey questioned, wondering if what Ahri told him about the land was true.

Ahri was actually impressed that he managed to notice something like this after such a short time on this land and only one source of information, which was herself. "It's not. They were made by Noxians. But, even after the war was over and the Institute placed their laws, such places still remained. They're mostly run by neutral Noxians and Ionians. Since it doesn't disturb the peace between the nations, it was ignored," she explained to him. "What if you entered for tonight and earned us some gold? you do know how to fight, right?" she asked teasingly.

"I hope that question was rhetorical. otherwise, I would start questioning your intelligence," Grey replied, wondering how she could as such a question after seeing him fight so much.

Ahri rolled her eyes. "Yes, it was. Let's just find them and earn money," she said before she turned to the exit of the alleyway and started walking again with Grey following close by.

while walking out of the alleyway, Grey bumped into a man. "Hey, watch it!" the man said before walking away.

"Can you be more careful?" Ahri requested, lightly glaring at her traveling companion.

The Abyss Watcher simply shrugged his shoulders, causing her to sigh. They continued walking until they reached the shady part of town. The houses in this part looked old, some broken, and fewer people were on the streets.

Ahri lead them towards a gate that seemed to lead into an underground tunnel. The gate was made of heavy metal and was had a slit near the top. Ahri knocked on the door and the slit opened, revealing a pair of eyes. "What do you want?" a gruff male voice asked.

"The fighting pits," Ahri replied, her voice taking a serious tone.

"To watch or fight?" the man behind the door asked.

"Fight," Ahri quickly replied.

The slit closed and, after hearing a few locks being removed, the heavy doors were opened. The man behind them was wearing a Noxian armor with a scar over his right eye. He was bald and had a sword on his waist. He was looking at Ahri with a skeptical look before he caught sight of Grey. "I guess he's the one doing the fighting?" he asked rhetorically. He obviously thought that Ahri was signing herself up to fight. "Alright, take the right hallway. It's the one for fighters. And then register with the guy waiting there," he said pointing behind him, where it was split into two ways.

They both nodded and entered the went inside. Truthfully, they were surprised that they went in so easily. Either this place had incredible guards, or whoever was in charge was just that arrogant. From the lack of the former except the door guard, Grey thought it was the latter.

They both entered the right hallway and started walking deeper underground. The walls and ceiling were made of rocks with wooden pillars laid out across it to make sure it stays in place. There was a metal lantern on every few pillars, illuminating the hallway.

The reached a wooden table that was at the side of the hallway. at the end of the hallway was a metal door, not unlike the one they walked through a few seconds ago. There was an old-looking man wearing glasses and Ionian robes behind the table.

Seeing the pair walking closer, the man looked up from a few papers he was signing. "Are you here to register as fighters?" he asked.

Ahri motioned to Grey. "He is," she said, not wanting to get involved. It was not that Ahri didn't believe she would be able to win if she fought, but she knew that magic wasn't considered fair in places like these, and that was her way of fighting.

"Name?" the man asked, pulling a couple of papers from under the desk.

"Grey Ashnex," the Abyss Watcher answered.

The man wrote the name on the paper before looking at them again. "Alright, just pay the entrance fee, and you can get in," he said holding out his hand.

Ahri froze in her place. "Entrance fee?" she asked, not recalling hearing of something like that.

The man nodded. "That's right, new fighters have to pay a fee for their first time here," he explained.

Ahri groaned in annoyance. Just as she was about to use her magic on the man, a small sack of coins was dropped in his outstretched hand. "Will this be enough?" Grey asked.

The nine-tailed Vastaya looked at her traveling companions surprised while the man checked the sack. It was barely the size of his fist. He weighed it in his hand before nodding. "Barely, but it's still enough," he said before writing on the paper again and handing it to the two. "Here's your papers, after a few moments we'll be handing out turns for fighting. You can wait there," he said motioning to the door at the end of the hallway.

They both nodded and went through the door, which was unlocked. After getting inside, Ahri and Grey were greeted with the sight of a large locker room. The room was quite wide and had pillars as large as trees at the sides. There were a few benches and lockers, along with a pair of giant doors at the other side, most likely leading to where the fights will be.

The room was also filled with all kinds of warriors. Some wearing armor, some holding weapons, and some both. Most of them cast their eyes on the traveling companions when they got in. Ahri received a few lustful looks, while Grey some wary ones. Some kept looking as they walked towards one of the benches on the side of the room and got sat down beside each other.

"Where did you get that money?" Ahri asked, keeping a cautious eye on the people around.

"I took them from the man I bumped into," Grey replied, seemingly relaxed. he already expected this place to require some form of payment for entering, so he made sure to come prepared.

Ahri lightly glared at the Undead Swordsman. "If you were going to steal, then why are we here?" she asked, believing that stealing money would have been far less of troubling than coming here.

"I did not want to steal unless it was necessary. That was only to pay whatever they wanted for entering this place," The Abyss Watcher explained. Stealing would draw too much attention for his liking, and the village was already cautious of them as it is.

Ahri sighed, realizing that Grey thought this through more than she did. She was honestly grateful for that. She supposed that it would have been worse if they weren't prepared. Now, she just had to sit back and watch the Undead Swordsman fight. She was simply hoping that no problems would happen from now.

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**First, as you can see, I'm making Grey have more interactions with Runeterra before reaching the Institute, and the traveling Arc will be longer this time.**

**Second, Grey and Ahri's relationship is going on a slower rate this time. But, I'm sure you can see it's growing.**

**Third, as you can probably guess, Sett is going to make an appearance in the next chapter. However, there won't be a fight between him and Grey, yet at least. There will be more characters appearing, but that's for later.**

**Lastly, about Grey figuring out about Ahri's magic. You have to admit, it would have been stupid for him not to notice something with how much experience in battle he has.**

**Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)**


	8. 7

_"A code must be determined by the individual."_

**Third POV:**

In the Ionian mountains, at the farm that Grey had first appeared at, the farmer had just finished today's work and was walking towards his house. Beside him was his son, carrying a bucket of milk that they had just got from the barn.

His wife was waiting at their front door, making sure they were okay. Ever since the incident, she had been regularly checking on them to make sure her son didn't wander off and put himself in danger again.

They had all entered their house together… when the door suddenly slammed behind them, causing them to jump in surprise. They huddled together and turned around to see Akali, standing beside the door.

"W-Who are you?" the farmer asked, pulling his wife and son from the woman, who was obviously an assassin from her attire.

"I told you we should have knocked," another voice spoke out, surprising them again as they saw Kennen, sitting in the middle of the living room with a cup of tea in his hands.

Akali rolled her eyes. "Relax, we're from the Kinkou order," she revealed, seeing that the family was starting to panic.

The mother and father seemed to have calmed down, but only slightly. The son was obviously still too young to know what they were talking about. "Oh, you're from the Order?" the farmer asked, receiving a nod from the two intruders. "Alright, please take Sora to his room," he instructed his wife who nodded and started guiding the boy upstairs. Akali and Kennen didn't seem to have a problem with that, the latter finished his tea and stood up to stand beside Akali. "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, wondering if there was something wrong with his farm to gain the attention of the Kinkou Order.

"We're just asking for some information," Akali said, still leaning beside the door. "Tall, dark clothes, red cape, pointy metal hat, and a large sword, ring any bells?" the farmer's eyes noticeably widen at that description, recognizing it almost instantly. "So, he was here."

Akali and Kennen had been able to follow the Abyss Watcher from the way they came from to a village, where they found dead bodies outside of it in the woods. At first, they were horrified but then found out that they were working with slavery, so any remorse they felt was gone.

Afterward, they followed the tracks again while asking around town, which got them to find out that the Abyss Watcher got there through a carriage. They tracked where it came from to another town, and then followed the rest of the tracks to this farm.

"What do you know about him?" Kennen asked, seeing that the farmer clearly knows something.

"I-Is he in trouble?" the man asked hesitantly.

Both Kennen and Akali raised an eyebrow in confusion, wondering why he would care. "No, not really. We're just checking on where he came from," Akali replied. She wasn't really lying. They had nothing against the Undead Swordsman. And, if he was really the one who killed those slavery men, then they were probably going to thank him.

The farmer seemed troubled. "Honestly, I don't know. He appeared out of nowhere and saved my son's life," he answered their previous question, while also making them realize why he was concerned for the Abyss Watcher.

"What did he exactly do when he was here? After saving your son's life, that is," Akali asked, hoping to find any valuable information.

"Ask for directions," the farmer replied.

"To what?" Akali asked again.

"Well, everything really," he replied, causing them to look at him in confusion. "At first, he asked about this land, and then asked about Runeterra itself, as if he didn't know anything about it," that seemed to further confuse the two Kinkou members. how can someone not know the land they're on? "I think he's headed to the Institute of War now, since I mentioned that it might help him get back home."

Akali and Kennen shared another look. They were champions of the Institute, and they wouldn't doubt that they can help the Undead Swordsman with whatever his problem was. However, this still left much unanswered. "Can you take us to where you first saw him?" Kennen requested, hoping to find any further tracks.

The farmer nodded. "Yes, I still remember where that is," he replied as he started walking towards the door, passing by them, and exiting. It was hard to forget the place where his son was attacked, after all.

The two Kinkou members followed him. They were honestly curious to find what they can about the Abyss Watcher. The more they found about him, the more confusing he seemed. They just hoped to find answers before this became far too annoying.

* * *

Meanwhile, Grey and Ahri were on the bench in the locker room, waiting for the fighting pits to start. A few moments ago, the guy who was at the table in front of the entrance came in and hanged a piece of paper on the door, showing numbers and a schedule, showing everyone the timing of their fights and who they would be fighting.

Grey's fight was the very first one tonight, and Ahri couldn't help but keep looking around cautiously at the other fighters as they either prepared their weapons or trained on punching bags. "Calm down, you're too nervous," the Abyss Watcher suddenly said, reading her body language.

"Well, I think you're too calm," Ahri retorted, seeing his rather lax sitting position while leaning back and crossing his arms.

"What they're doing is stupid beyond reason," he commented causing her to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "They are simply showing off in the hopes of seeming intimidating to lowers the morals of their opponents. However, they're also giving others a chance to come up with a battle plan to fight them. So, ignore them," he explained.

The Nine-tailed Vastaya looked surprised before looking around again, but this time, with her magic. She then saw clear anxiety on everyone, some even fearful. They were those who weren't worried, but they were reeking of arrogance, so Ahri dismissed them as fools. Looking back at her traveling companion, she saw that he was just as emotionless as always, which meant that no one can read anything on him, not even her with her magic.

"Hey there, beautiful," just as luck would have it, one of those Ahri dubbed as fools came to approach her, and he was reeking of lust. A large, muscly man that had the sides of his head shaved, silver shoulder armor, bare chest, brown trousers, and was holding a spiky morningstar. "What's a cutie like you doing here?" he asked.

Ahri rolled her eyes. "Just seeing my friend fight," she answered, motioning to Grey.

"Why don't you be my friend? I'm sure that I can offer you better than what he has," the man said, puffing his chest to show off.

The Nine-tailed Vastaya was honestly wondering if that way of talking actually works on women. "Thanks, but if I wanted to leave him for trash, I would go into the corner," she replied, pointing a trashcan in the far end of the room.

The man was obviously not pleased. "Listen, lady, I'm trying to be nice here, so why don't you just come along before I get violent," he threatened while reaching forward with his arm.

Ahri was ready to burn his arm off right then and there. However, before the man's arm even came close to her shoulder, an armored arm grabbed it. "She declined, so you should leave," the Abyss Watcher said.

Ahri was somewhat surprised, she expected him to let her handle this and not get involved. "Mind your own-argh!" whatever the man was going to say stopped as Grey tightened his hold, to the point that Ahri can almost hear cracking.

"I will say this one last time, leave, before they have to drag your corpse from here," Grey threatened before letting go of the man's arm.

pulling back his hand, the man glared at the Abyss Watcher before walking away while checking his wrist. The Undead Swordsman turned his glare at the rest of the fighters, and all of the lustful looks Ahri was receiving stopped while the anxiety went higher out of that short display.

Ahri just looked at Grey as he went back to his previous position. "I didn't take you for the jealous type," she teased, still wondering why he interfered.

"Starting fights before their official time is a bad idea. We're new here, so it would be easy to blame us for what happened," Grey replied, ignoring her teasing.

The Nine-Tailed Vastaya wouldn't deny that the fact he would always ignore her teasing was somewhat annoying, but it also made her feel challenged that she gets a reaction out of him. "I'll just believe that you were jealous," she teased further.

However, like before, he ignored it and shrugged his shoulders. "Believe what you want," Ahri really wished his responses would stop being so blunt.

* * *

In another part of the Fighting Pits, overlooking the arena from a private booth was a young man sitting on a rather fancy looking chair, looking to be bored out of his mind.

The young man had messy red hair, pointy fur ears, a scar over his nose, a sleeveless long furry coat with a furry collar that had a golden wolf head on either side of the chest with nothing underneath it, baggy pants, and black, fingerless gloves with golden brass knuckles.

That young man was Sett, the current leader of the fighting pits, or 'the boss' as he preferred. And, just as his look implied, he was bored out of his mind, mainly because of the current state of the Fighting Pits.

It wasn't that their business was dropping. They were actually as successful as ever, even more than usual now that fighters are trying to stand out and gain the attention of the Institute of War. What bored him was his own current state.

Sett never expected that being a boss would be so… bland and boring. He didn't hate the job, and he obviously got most of the income, which he was using to help his mother's life get better. Simply put, he hated just sitting around.

Sett was a fighter. He'd always been a fighter. And, now that all he has to do is just sit around and watch the fights, he had gotten bored. There were the occasional idiots trying to take the position from him, but they were all nobodies that barely lasted against him.

He missed the thrill of battle and throwing fists. Not to mention that the fights recently have seemed boring to him. If they had gotten more interesting, maybe he wouldn't be as bored as he currently was.

"Alright, let's start today's matches," he said before looking towards the referee in the arena and nodding towards him. He wanted to get this over with and hopefully get back home to his mother. Spending time with her always seemed to make him happier.

The arena was a giant wooden circle covered in dirt. People were on both sides, some of them cheering while others were placing bets. Sett's booth was at the end, right between where the two sides of the people met. Under his booth was the gate to the locker room that had the fighters.

The referee, who was a short, obese man with a beard, got the message. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he called out from his spot, which was the middle of the arena, and caused the crowd to quiet down. "Your waiting has finished, we will officially start the fights for tonight!" he yelled causing the crowd to start cheering. "First off, coming from Noxus, here comes Ronak!" he called out.

The man who came to talk to Ahri earlier walked through the gates. An arrogant smile on his face as he waved to the crowd while showing off his muscles. Noxians cheered at him, while Ionians booed.

"And now, he's challenger, from parts unknown, Grey!" the referee called out as the Abyss Watcher walked out of the locker room and faced his opponent at the other side of the ring.

Some people cheered, mainly for the fighting to begin, while others were wondering about who he was. There were whispers about him being a Noxian because of his color theme, but the Noxians themselves in the crowd seemed just as clueless, so those thoughts were ignored.

Meanwhile, Sett couldn't help but laugh as he saw the Undead Swordsman. "Who the hell wears a hat like that?" he asked, pointing at Grey's helm.

His assistant, an Ionian female assassin, looked at one of the papers in her hand. "He's a new fighter. Came in here with some weird fox Vastaya and registered in," she said reading the paper before looking back at the arena. "He looks Noxian."

"No, he ain't Noxian," Sett commented, scratching his chin.

He might have been a more brawn-over-brains guy, but being the boss and seeing all kinds of warriors has given him knowledge on such subjects. He can clearly tell that the Undead Swordsman wasn't Noxian, nor was he Ionian, and Sett can't help but be curious of where came from. Well, it didn't really matter to him. But, he had a feeling that today's fights weren't going to be so boring.

Meanwhile, at the gates of the locker room, Ahri was standing outside the locker and near the edge of the arena. Just close enough to get a good look at the fight, but not close enough for the crowd to see her. "You better know what you're doing," she mumbled, actually concerned for her traveling companion. Normally, she wouldn't be concerned for someone she didn't know that long, but she wouldn't deny that the Abyss Watcher was making this journey a lot easier than it could have been.

"Well, well, well," Ronak chuckled as he pulled out his morningstar and started petting its pole. "I guess I get to pay you back for what you did to me in the lockers. And, after I'm done with you, maybe I'll take that girl for myself," he gave a lecherous smirk as he imagined what he would do to Ahri.

The Abyss Watcher simply ignored his talk. He knew for a fact that Ahri would be able to beat this man even without her magic. Though, he doubted she would he the chance to as much as see him again after this fight.

"Alright," the referee took a few steps back as he raised his hands. Tension grew in the air as the entire crowd grew silent, even Ahri took a deep breath to prepare. Suddenly, the referee brought down his arms. "Begin!"

The first one to make a move was Ronak, who charged in while raising his morningstar. Grey simply remained still and unmoving, causing Ahri to have a small sense of panic seeing him do nothing at the charging enemy.

When Ronak was close enough, he brought down his morningstar, hoping to crush his opponent's head with it. However, it never touched him. In a sudden turn of events, Grey swiftly caught the incoming weapon by the pole without as much as flinching.

Before the Noxian fighter can even show his surprise, the Undead Swordsman quickly pulled out his dagger with his free hand and cut his opponent's throat open. Ronak jumped back in shock and dropped his weapon before falling on his knees as he choked on his own blood.

Ronak started desperately clutching his throat in an attempt to stop the bleeding. However, the cut was far too deep, and it wasn't long before he fell on the ground, life leaving his eyes as blood kept flooding from his cut throat.

The entire arena was in stunned silence. None of them expected the fight to be over so quickly. Even Sett was surprised by how quickly the battle was concluded. "Well, that just happened," the boss mumbled.

"Uhmm… boss? This guy… just broke your record," his assistant mumbled, causing Sett to look even more surprised. He has the record for the fastest match to be over… well, HAD the record. And now, some mysterious guy just finished it with one move.

Ahri herself was astonished at how fast the fight had been, if she can even call it a fight to begin with. It was then that she noticed a dark silhouette leave Ronak's corpse and disappear into the Abyss Watcher. She has been noticing that silhouette every time that he killed someone, and she can't stop wondering what it was.

Meanwhile, Grey glanced at his opponent's dead body and felt… nothing, like usual. He could take Ronak's soul and use it to get Sovereignless Souls, but he already got some from the kill. Plus, he didn't really need it. So, he just decided to leave it there.

However, the Abyss Watcher also noticed something that he caught sight of before. The two mysterious white and black figures were above the corpse for a brief second, and then they were gone, just like in the Noxian camp.

Before he can think on the subject any longer, the referee finally got over his shock. "A-And the winner, Grey!" he called out.

Most Ionians began cheering, mainly because they wanted to see the Noxian Warrior defeated. As for the Noxians, they were mixed reactions. Some cheered at that impressive display, while others began glaring and booing at the Abyss Watcher for humiliating someone from their nation like that.

Grey himself paid the crowd no mind and simply started walking out of the arena. He saw Ahri waiting for him with a smirk on her face. "You don't hold back, do you?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"We don't need to spend more time here than we need, so why bother?" the Undead Swordsman retorted as he walked towards the locker room with her following close by. The Nine-Tailed Vastayan agreed with him, which is why she didn't say anything back.

When they were inside the locker room, Grey obviously drew looks from everyone around. Unlike before, Ahri didn't receive any looks, lustful or otherwise, and people even seemed to move out of her way as she and her traveling companion went back to their bench to sit down.

When they were seated, the Nine-Tailed Vastaya looked around and she didn't need her magic to see the fear people had, and all of it was directed to the man sitting beside her. Even the ones who were arrogant before were now full of anxiety.

"It looks like you left quite the impression," Ahri noted, seeing the clear signs of different attitudes compared to before the Abyss Watcher had his match.

"That is a good thing. It means that fewer idiots will try to cause conflict like that fool from before," Grey explained, not wanting to be bothered by breaking every fight because some in-heat idiot tried to get into her skirt.

Ahri smiled slyly, finding a chance to tease him. "So, you're saying it's good because people won't hit on me and you can keep me to yourself?" she questioned, explaining the situation in her own way.

The Abyss Watcher simply regarded her with what Ahri can guess is a deadpan look. She still couldn't see his face. "The world does not reside around you," Grey retorted, believing that her teasing was simply out of ego.

The Nine-Tailed Vastaya rolled her eyes, understanding what he meant. True, she can be somewhat egotistical, but she was teasing to hopefully get a reaction out of him more than a deadpan look. She'd be lying if she said that it wasn't fun to challenge herself with getting him to feel something. She just hoped that the rest of their time in the Fighting Pits was going to go this smoothly.

* * *

It had been nearly a few hours since Grey's fight. As Ahri had hoped, most of it went without a problem. The Undead Swordsman had two more fights, and each one was finished as easily and as swiftly as his first. She started wondering if there's actually anyone here who can last against him.

Meanwhile, Sett wasn't as joyful as Ahri was. People obviously noted that the Abyss Watcher was stronger than any of the current fighters, and they were all putting their bets on him. Losing money wasn't the problem, it was the reputation. He can tell that people were starting to wonder if either the Abyss Watcher was just that strong, or that the Fighting Pits were just that weak.

He can clearly see it wasn't the latter. It was obvious to Sett that the Undead Swordsman was for more skilled and experienced in battle than any of the fighters that registered in. But, people don't know that, and if the Fighting Pits seemed weak, then their business would start going down from lack of interest.

"And there goes another fighter," his assistant commented seeing the Abyss Watcher kill another one of his opponents easily, again in record time.

Sett needed a way to show people that they weren't weak and that Grey was just strong. He couldn't go down there himself, as tempting as that was. If the Boss himself showed up to do something about a new fighter just because they were successful, he can kiss his reputation goodbye.

Suddenly, a thought appeared in Sett's head, causing him to smirk. "Hey, how many contenders we have left?" he asked.

His assistant was surprised before pulling out a piece of paper. "Excluding that monster, five fighters are left," she answered.

"Good, send them all at him," Sett ordered causing his assistant's eyes to widen in shock.

She was about to say something, but a glare from the Pits' leader silenced all her complaints, so she just shrugged it off. "Well, you're the boss," she said before walking out.

Sett couldn't help but smirk. While he didn't get to do any fighting, he wouldn't deny that tonight wasn't as boring as the last. Seeing that Abyss Watcher fight multiple people should show the crowd that they weren't weak, but he was simply strong.

If he failed and died, it would be a good show. If he actually succeeded, it would still be a good show, and Sett MIGHT put in a little extra gold in the reward… plus, Sett was a little mad that a new fighter broke his record, so that might have something to do with this decision.

Back at the arena, Ahri watched as another of Grey's opponents dropped dead. At this point, she just stood there to see him finish, not even wondering if there will be any fighting. She didn't even see him pull out his sword once, just his dagger. The Nine-Tailed Vastaya was actually impressed. She already knew that the Abyss Watcher was a good fighter, she still didn't expect him to be that good.

She also noted that the Undead Swordsman gained a reputation amongst the crowd. Ionians liked him because most of his opponents were Noxians, while the Noxians seemed to respect him for his strength. It wasn't a surprise. Noxus was a land that respected strength no matter where it came from. So, not knowing where the Abyss Watcher was from didn't really matter to them.

Ahri directed her look at the referee, waiting for him to declare Grey's win. However, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she saw Sett's assistant come in and whisper something into the man's ear. Because of the crowds cheering, and the distance between them, Ahri couldn't hear what was said, even with her enhanced senses.

The referee looked surprised but still nodded. Sett's assistant left as the referee started addressing the crowd again. "Ladies and gentlemen! We have a special surprise! We will be having today's finals… right now!" he announced causing questioning murmurs to start filling the arena. "Our up and coming starfighter of tonight, Grey, will be fighting the rest of the fighters by himself!"

"Wait, what?" Ahri questioned as the crowd gasped in shock, while Grey himself looked simply confused.

The gates of the locker room opened again and the remaining warriors got out. They were already informed about what's happening and were also informed that there was a big reward for whoever defeats the Abyss Watcher.

Meanwhile, the crowd began placing their bets. Most betted against the Undead Swordsman. Believing that, while he appeared to be strong, he couldn't take on the five remaining warriors on his own.

Ahri herself started looking at her traveling companion in worry. She couldn't understand what was going on. In all the memories she took that included the Fighting Pits, nothing like this has ever happened.

The Abyss Watcher looked at his opponents and got a good look at them. One of them was an Ionian wearing leather armor and holding a spear. The second was also an Ionian also wearing leather armor, but was holding a sword- a Katana, if Grey remembers what he heard about eastern lands correctly back in Farron Keep.

The other three were Noxians. All of them wearing silver armor around their chests, shoulders, and legs. One was holding a double-edged ax, the second was holding a greatsword, and the last was holding a mace.

All of them got inside the arena on one side while the Abyss Watcher was on the other. Ahri was expecting Grey to pull out his sword, but he simply stood where he was, like he did most of the fights, which made her question if he was either confident, crazy, or simply gave up already.

In all honesty, Grey didn't see the need to pull out his sword. He can clearly see that his enemies weren't planning to work together at all. They were all sending glares at each other, most likely thinking of sacrificing the others in order to achieve victory.

The referee raised his hands before bringing them down. "Begin!"

The first one to make a move was the Ionian with the spear. He charged forward, thrusting the tip of his weapon. The Undead Swordsman side-stepped the attack before grabbing the spear near the tip, breaking the wooden pole, and then using the tip of the spear to stab the Ionian man at the side of the head, killing him instantly.

The second one to charge in was the Noxian with the double-edged ax, most likely trying to use the first attack as a distraction. When he swung down his weapon, Grey swiftly pulled out his dagger and parried the attack, leaving the Noxian open for when Grey's dagger came back and sliced through his throat.

The remaining two Noxians seemed to have a look between each other. Seeing that charging in alone was the wrong choice, they apparently made the smart decision of working together. And so, they both charged in at the same time, both swinging their weapon from a direction.

The Undead Swordsman knelt down, dodging the attack and causing the weapons to clash together. With great speed, Grey pulled out his sword and swung it in a large cut, slicing both Noxians from the waist in half.

When they were down, the Abyss Watcher stood back up and saw that the last Ionian was not there. Hearing the sound of a blade cutting through the air, Grey immediately raised his dagger to his right and stopped the katana from cutting at his side.

The last Ionian has apparently tried to sneak up behind him while he was dealing with the Noxians. The Undead Swordsman pushed the katana away and swiftly spun around, swinging his sword and cutting off the Ionian's head.

Seeing the last fighter fall dead, the crowd erupted into cheers. "And the winner of today's tournament, Grey!" the referee announced.

The Abyss Watcher paid the cheers no mind. He was more focused on the white and black figures that were standing above the dead bodies of his opponents. However, they were gone almost instantly again. The Undead Swordsman couldn't figure out who those figures were, but he did notice that they seemed to appear every time someone dies.

Ahri let out a relieved breath she didn't know she was holding. She told herself that she should stop worrying at this point because it was not good for her health to have this much needless stress. She saw Grey start walking out of the corpse-filled arena.

"Do you know what was that about?" the Abyss Watcher asked, wanting to know why he suddenly had all the other fighters against him at once.

"I honestly don't know, but I do know it wasn't normal," the fox Vastaya replied, knowing that the assistant that came before the fight most likely had something to do with it. "But, I think we'll find out soon," she commented, seeing the referee walk towards them.

"Great show, young man," the referee praised. Ahri can swear she suddenly felt a spark of amusement from Grey when he was called 'young man', but it was gone in an instant, so she just thought it was her imagination. "Your reward is with the boss. Let me lead you to him," he said as he started walking towards a small door that was beside the locker ones.

When the referee opened the door, it revealed stairs that led upwards. Grey glanced at Ahri, who nodded, showing it was okay to follow. They both went after the referee up the stairs where he guided them towards a pair of doors that were obviously made from a better material than most things here.

Opening the doors, both Ahri and Grey were greeted with the sight of a smirking Sett, who turned his seat around to face them. "Great show out there. I was almost impressed… well, almost," he chuckled arrogantly.

When they saw Sett, the two traveling companions had a different reaction. Ahri was surprised to see a Vastaya in charge of this place, mainly because she didn't see any around and she knew that no Vastaya tribe was close by. As for Grey, he only had one thing that popped in his head, and it was that Sett was obviously a child.

"Anyway, here's your reward for today's fighting," Sett said before pulling out a bag that was bigger than a man's head and throwing it near their feet.

Ahri was the one to pick up the bag and checked it and saw it was full of gold. However, that didn't stop her from glaring at the boss. "What was that just now? We weren't told about any kind of battle royal," she questioned.

Sett raised his hands innocently, but his smile was showing that he didn't regret anything. "Hey, your friend was winning too quickly. So I had to make it… interesting for the viewers," he replied, obviously lying by his tone.

Before Ahri can say something else, she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. She looked and saw Grey's blue eyes looking at her through the small mask. "We're done here, so let us leave," he instructed. He honestly didn't care how many people he fought, especially since nothing wrong happened. Plus, he still had some spare Estus, so he could have healed anything that would have happened to him.

The Nine-Tailed Vastaya spared one last glare at the boss before she nodded. Both of them walked out and started making their way out of the Fighting Pits, leaving Sett alone.

Sett simply chuckled and turned his chair around, looking at the now empty Arena. Even the crowd was starting to leave. This has actually turned out to be a far more interesting night than he originally expected.

He supposed that he could have found a more peaceful solution, but he wasn't that kind of guy. Besides, he had other things to worry about. Lately, his mother has been getting rather suspicious about where Sett has been getting his money.

While she didn't show it, Sett can see the obvious signs that she has been believing him less and less. He needed a way to either cover up his work as the Boss, or find a second job to tell his mother that he was getting his money from there.

Maybe he should join the Institute of War. He heard that they pay well for their fighters. True, it was about fighting, but Sett has heard that there was a way for no one to be hurt inside fights there, so that might ease his mother's worries. Plus, if he knew his mother as much as he does, then she would be happy that her son was fighting to 'protect' their nation in the Institute.

* * *

In another part of Ionia, back with Kennen and Akali, we see the two assassins venturing the forest. The farmer had shown them where he first saw the Abyss Watcher, and they found a trail afterward that led them deep in the Ionian mountains.

However, their trail seemed to have stopped in the middle of nowhere. The only strange thing about the area they were in was a few broken branches as if something had fallen from the sky, but no trail of where the Abyss Watcher came from.

"Kennen, did you find anything?" Akali asked as she inspected one of the broken branches on the ground.

The Yordle, who was looking around for any other sign of tracks, shook his head. "No, not yet," he replied.

"Well, keep looking. He couldn't have just popped up from thin air," Akali retorted. However, she then noticed the lack of reply. "Kennen?" she looked at her fellow Kinkou member, only to see him looking with a wide-eyed look at something beyond a few bushes.

Wondering what could cause such a reaction, Akali walked closer and took a look at what he was seeing, and her eyes widen equally as big at finally catching sight of what the Yordle was looking at.

Standing in the middle of a clearing, near a small crater was a figure. The figure was somewhat large and appeared to be entirely made of cloth. They had odd, narrowed feet along with what appears to be a horn with a green orb at the tip. They also seemed to be floating, since their feet were not touching the ground.

The figure seemed to be looking at the crater, where something obviously fell, before it turned to face them to reveal a yellow circular mask that had three golden dots. Around the mask was long, pure white hair coming out from all directions.

The figure and two Kinkou members simply looked at each other for a few seconds, before the former turned the other direction. The figure brought the horn to one of the dots in its mask before blowing in it.

The sound of the horn seemed to echo throughout the entire area as a golden portal suddenly appeared in front of the figure. The two Kinkou members simply stared as the figure floated inside the portal before it vanished.

"Was… was that…" Akali didn't seem able to finish her sentence.

Thankfully, Kennen finished it for her. "Bard?"

Every nation in Runeterra had legends about the Cosmic Vagabond. They had caught glimpse of him in the Institute of War, but this was by far the first time they had seen him in person.

They couldn't even begin to understand what he was doing here. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but there was still the chance that he was here to see where the Abyss Watcher came from.

Akali and Kennen knew for a fact that this is far bigger than they expected if Bard himself has come to look into the Undead Swordsman… far, FAR, bigger.

* * *

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**First, about how the fights went. Considering skills and experience, are you really surprised that Grey found them that easy?**

**Second, Sett didn't get to fight for reasons that were already explained. If the Boss himself comes to beat up(or try and fail to beat up) a new contender because they were successful, that would throw Sett's reputation out of the window.**

**Third, I hope I got Sett's personality right. I never used him in any of my stories.**

**Fourth, Ahri seems to be catching on to Grey taking Sovereignless Souls, while Grey is starting to notice Kindred more, so that should be interesting.**

**And lastly, Bard made an appearance. That's mainly because I realized: if a portal from another world appears, Bard would definitely be the first person to go and check on it.**

**Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story. Criticism is appreciated as long as it's constructive.)**

**P.S. There's seems to be some confusion between my readers. Some of you believe that Sovereignless Souls and normal souls are the same thing.**

**Hate to break it to you, but that's not it.**

**Despite popular belief, Sovereignless Souls are not the same as normal souls.**

**The best way to describe Sovereignless Souls would be as broken souls or a Soul's leftovers.**

**That is why when you crush a soul, the greater or bigger it is, the more Sovereignless Souls you acquire. It's because you literally gather the pieces of that soul.**


	9. 8

_"One day, the flames will fade… and only dark will remain."_

**Third POV:**

On a clear sky like this, the moonlight gave the forest of Ionia a majestic look. With all kinds of wildlife and plants, along with the occasional spirits passing through, one would never think that this peaceful land was at war in one point.

That is what Grey has been thinking as he and Ahri walked through the forest. A river of clear water was running beside them, coming from the distant mountains and heading towards the ocean. The sound of water and the quiet forest was enough to calm anyone.

Ahri herself seemed calm, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere that covered the forest. They had left the last village recently, and she believed she deserved some quiet time after what happened in the Fighting Pits, despite the fact that it was Grey who did the fighting.

"We should make camp soon," Grey suddenly suggested, breaking the silence. "It wouldn't be wise to spend the entire night traveling," he pointed out.

Ahri didn't see a problem with that. "Alright, I guess we can use the break," she agreed. She also remembered that her traveling companion hasn't had any sleep since they started traveling, and she believed he deserved some rest.

After a few more minutes of walking, they settled down at a place beside the river, where they rested at the trunks of trees. Odd, glowing flowers surrounded the area they were sitting in, giving a little light in the dark of the forest.

Seeing as the flowers were giving them light, add the fact that the weather wasn't particularly cold, Grey saw no need to start a fire and opted to simply sit down and lean back on a tree.

If he had to describe Ionia in a short sentence, it would be 'unnaturally natural', despite how ironic that sounded. The Abyss Watcher couldn't help but notice that nature dominated most of the land.

Even in the village where they went to the Fighting Pits, some houses were made of a combination of trees standing close to each other. In fact, even inside the Fighting Pits, half the structure was obviously part of the underground or large roots of trees.

"You should go to sleep," Ahri suddenly said catching his attention. "You haven't had a rest since we started traveling, and you deserve some rest, especially after fighting in the Pits," she explained.

"I don't need to rest right now, so you sleep first and I'll watch," the Abyss Watcher replied.

"Oh no, I'm not falling for that again," Ahri immediately shot his proposal down, remembering the first time he took watch. "You seriously need rest. I haven't seen you have any sleep since we started traveling, and that's really dangerous, especially if you fight as much as you do. So, why don't you take some rest, and I'll wake you up later so I can sleep too, deal?" she offered, although she had no intention of letting him refuse.

The Undead Swordsman simply kept looking at her for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders. He leaned back on the tree and Ahri can (barely) see his eyes close behind the small mask that is connected to his helm.

With her traveling companion now getting some sleep, the Nine-Tailed Vastaya was left alone. She brought her knees to her chest and looked around, trying to find something to entertain herself with while she waited until she deemed that the Abyss Watcher rested enough.

She wasn't going to wake him up anytime soon, that was for sure. They had been traveling together for nearly four whole days, and Ahri didn't see him get any sleep at all. She believed that he earned his rest, especially since he's the one who fought in the Pits.

Looking at the flowers she couldn't help but stiff a little. Flowers brought… mixed feelings to her. They brought both good memories and bad ones, both of them she would like to forget. Suddenly, making her traveling companion go to sleep and leave her alone didn't feel like such a good-

Ahri's eyes widen as she realized something. Grey was sleeping, which meant that he could be dreaming. She could use her magic and look into his dreams to finally get some knowledge of who he is.

Of course, Ahri took no joy in toying with dreams anymore. However, she was tired of not knowing anything about her traveling companion, especially since he managed to find out about her magic so easily. She needed to know something other than his name, anything would work.

So, looking at where his eyes were closed, Ahri used her magic, causing her eyes to start glowing blue. Trying to enter his dreams, she found… nothing.

Ahri refused to accept that as an answer. All those who sleep had dreams. Even if they were having a dreamless night, she can easily give them dreams herself from her magic, especially if she was within this close proximity of them, yet she couldn't find-

… It finally clicked in her head. The Nine-Tailed Vastaya then glared at Grey. "Are you trying to insult me?" she received no response to her question, which isn't surprising. "I know you're awake."

The Abyss Watcher's eyes opened behind the small mask, confirming her claims. "Did your magic have something to do with that?" he asked, suspecting that it might be the case.

"Don't change the subject," Ahri immediately retorted, trying to avoid speaking of her magic and his attempt at not answering her. "Why didn't you go to sleep?" she asked.

Grey looked away. "I simply couldn't," he replied.

"If you're going to lie, then at least look at me while doing it," Ahri deadpanned at him, calling out his obvious lie, causing Grey to sigh. He had been told by many people that he was a terrible lier, and he supposed that was true. "Now, tell me, why didn't you go to sleep."

"As I told you before, I don't need to," his answer just seemed to annoy her, rather than satisfy her.

The nine-tailed Vastaya pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. "Look, all this time you talked about how you only do things if they were necessary, and how we shouldn't take unnecessary risks," she started as she looked back at him. "It would be really bad if you suddenly passed out from exhaustion, so why don't you take some rest while you can?" she asked him.

"I haven't needed rest in centuries," Grey commented, almost in self-pity. He didn't particularly feel bad about it, or special. After all, that was something all Undead shared.

Ahri's eyes widen. "Centuries?..." for a moment, she believed he was lying since she knew that humans don't live that long. However, after the earlier attempt of lying, along with the fact she sensed no description from him, she could tell that he wasn't. "You're… not human, are you?" she asked to make sure of her suspension.

The Abyss Watcher nodded, seeing no reason to lie, but he didn't reveal what he is to her. Honestly, Ahri wanted to be happy that she finally discovered something from her traveling companion, but what she discovered just filled her head with more questions.

If he was truly centuries old, then that probably meant he was older than her. She had spent the recent years of her life thinking about how everyone was basically a kid compared to her age, since she was nearly over a century old, despite looking youthful, but she apparently found someone who was older than her.

Then there was the fact he wasn't human. True, she didn't believe that he was normal, but she didn't know that he wasn't human. Ahri suspected that he was a Vastaya since they have a long lifespan, but she dismissed that thought.

She couldn't sense any magic from him. All Vastaya are born with a natural talent in magic, no matter how little. Even in the Fighting Pits, when they encounter the boss, Ahri felt sparks of magic from him. However, she felt nothing from the Abyss Watcher. So, what was he?

"Do you hate flowers?" the sudden question caused all of Ahri's thoughts to vanish as she redirected her attention to her traveling companion.

"What makes you say that?" Ahri did her best to hide any emotion from her voice, although some hesitation still made it there.

"You have been either staring at them or avoiding looking at them all together," he explained the reason for his question.

Ahri couldn't help but be impressed by his observation skills. Perhaps she was too busy thinking that she didn't even notice the way she was acting. "No, I don't hate them. They just… bring back memories," she believed that she should reveal as much as he did, which isn't much but still enough.

Grey nodded, seemingly accepting the answer, and simply went back to leaning on the tree. It was obvious that, whether flowers brought good or bad memories, they were memories that Ahri would like to forget, so he avoided asking further questions.

"What about you?" Ahri asked, deciding to just stick to talking from now on if she wanted to know something, since her normal methods were useless. "What do you think about flowers?"

Grey looked around them, getting a good look at them before answering. "They are… a welcoming change. Sights like these are near non-existence."

Ahri wouldn't deny that she was feeling curious. "What was your home like?" she asked, believing that she at least might recognize the description if not the name.

"Farron Keep was… unkind, to say the least," Grey started, trying to come up with the best way to describe his 'home'. "It was a place where you either get strong or get killed. If the monsters don't get you, then the poisonous swamps will," he explained.

"Poisonous swamps?" Ahri couldn't hide the surprise from her voice. There was barely any swamps on Ionia, let alone poisonous ones, and they were definitely not filled with monsters. "If it's such a terrible place, why did you stay there?" she asked.

"Plenty of reasons," the Abyss Watcher replied, shrugging his shoulders. "For one thing, I have nowhere else to go. I also have a duty to finish there. Not to mention that… I have to make sure that the others rest," he counted his reasons, although the last one confused his traveling companion.

The way he spoke about his 'home' made Ahri feel like he still would stay there if he could. Then, remembering that he kept asking about his home, while also remembering that he travels for 'personal reasons', Ahri came to a realization. "Is that why you're going to the Institute? so you could go back there?" she asked.

The Abyss Watcher replied with a nod, before looking at her. "Why are you going there?" he asked.

believing that she should at least tell him something, she hugged her knees and replied, "I… I guess you can say I'm looking for help, like you," it wasn't a complete lie. After all, she was going there to see if there is a way to finally stop killing and taking memories.

Once again, Grey nodded, accepting the answer. "You should get some sleep. I don't need it, but you do, so get some rest," he suggested.

Ahri simply hugged her knees tighter and looked around at the flowers. "I think I'll stay up a little longer. I don't really feel like going to sleep right now," she replied, hidden fear in her tone.

"Is this about your nightmares?" Grey asked, seeing the obvious signs of being scared and recalling her screaming in her sleep.

The nine-tailed Vastaya didn't even try to lie, and simply nodded. The flowers brought back memories, and she would undoubtedly see them in her dreams again. More specifically, she would see HIM again, and she didn't want to at the moment.

Suddenly, Grey stood up from his place and walked closer. Ahri gave him a questionable look as he sat down beside her, on the side of the tree she was sitting on. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'll stay here in case you start screaming again. Go to sleep, and if I saw anything happen, I'll wake you up immediately," the Undead Swordsman replied, explaining why he suddenly sat beside her.

Ahri was shocked. she couldn't tell if he was doing this for her sake, or because he simply didn't want her to be a bother in their travel from lack of sleep. Honestly, she wouldn't doubt that it was somehow both.

Ahri saw this as a sign of him trying to comfort her, even though it was possible that he wasn't. She simply decided to accept the act of kindness and lean back on the tree, letting her tails cover her as she closed her eyes and started to slowly drift into sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of Ionia, deep within the northern mountains, lies the Kinkou temple. Inside the temple, Shen was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a large garden, covered in many kinds of Ionian flowers. The garden had a large, cherry blossom tree in the middle, and a small bond of water close by.

The leader of the Kinkou order had his eyes closed and was taking deep breaths, meditating, while also testing his connection to the spiritual realm, which made his sword on his back glow slightly. Suddenly, he spoke, breaking the silence of the garden. "I assume you return with some information?"

An annoyed sigh was heard before Akali and Kennen suddenly jumped down from the tree and landed behind their master. "I told you it wouldn't work," the Yordle said.

the female assassin rolled her eyes in annoyance. She can never sneak on Shen, no matter how hard she tried. When she asked him how he keeps knowing about her, he said that she was too noisy, despite the fact she always made sure to never make a sound.

Disregarding her annoyance, Akali went back to answering Shen's question. "We found… somethings, but not much," Shen simply opened his eyes and looked at her over his shoulder, which was her sign to continue.

Akali and Kennen then began explaining everything they found out about the Abyss Watcher, from those dead slavers to the farm where he first appeared. They also explained to him that, at some point, the trail completely vanishes, which is why they returned so quickly.

Shen took a moment to think about what he just heard. Truthfully, he didn't know what to think about the mysterious man. While so far, his actions have been rather well, the Eye of Twilight believed that it was mere coincidence and that those events simply happened to be at the path that the Undead Swordsman was traveling.

Still, Shen decided to give him the benefit of doubt, seeing that he had no actual benefit of helping others, but he still did. So, perhaps the Abyss Watcher's presence would not be so bad, but they will still check on him. Though, Shen would be lying if he said that he wasn't curious as to why the stranger was with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

If what the farmer told Kennen and Akali is true about the Undead Swordsman going towards the Institute of War, then she was most likely going with him there. They'll most likely be found there sooner or later, and so they can meet and ask them personally there.

"There's also something else," Akali added, halting Shen's thoughts. "We… saw Bard."

For what could be the first time, Shen's students saw his eyes widen in shock. "Bard?" neither can blame his surprise.

"He was looking over the place that the tracks stopped," Kennen explained, remembering the rather breathtaking sight of actually seeing Bard.

The Eye of Twilight narrowed his eyes, entering deep thought. He couldn't imagine what reason could the Cosmic Vagabond himself would come to investigate the stranger. Perhaps there was more to it.

However, despite all his knowledge and wisdom, Shen knew that he wouldn't be able to make decisions better than Bard, so he decided to leave whatever judgment that falls the Abyss Watcher from him was well deserved.

"I suppose we should keep an eye out for any kind of danger, just to be safe," Shen instructed believing that this was currently the best course of action. "Now, why don't you go finish your training? You are still too noisy when attempting sneaking around," he suggested while turning back to meditation.

Akali groaned loudly and raised her hands, holding them in line with Shen's neck, imagining throttling her teacher for a moment before she simply huffed and turned around, throwing her hands down and walking away. Kennen simply chuckled and followed her.

Shen would not deny or confirm that he might be smiling under his mask.

* * *

It has been nearly two hours, and Ahri was still sleeping peacefully, covered in her tails. Grey was sitting beside her, like he was before, and was keeping an eye on everything around.

The flowers around them kept glowing faintly, giving him a clear vision through the dark night. He still didn't know how those flowers were glowing, but he had seen far weirder plants, so he simply decided not to even question it as long as they were useful.

Suddenly, Ahri seemed to tense, Grey immediately turned his sights toward her as he saw her start steering. She was obviously starting to see a nightmare, but it wasn't that bad yet.

The Abyss Watcher was about to wake her up when he noticed something. From Ahri's head, a thin trail of darkness seemed to come out and head deeper into the forest. The darker the trail was, the more Ahri started steering.

Grey didn't know much about this land, but he knew that what was happening wasn't natural and that the trail obviously had something to do with Ahri's nightmare. So, he stood up and started to quickly move towards where the trail led.

It led him to a part of the forest where there were no glowing flowers, so the place was darker, but there was still a little light from the moon. Grey wasn't far, and he can still faintly make out the sound of Ahri moving around, so he can quickly go back if something went wrong.

The trail seemed to just vanish in the darkness of the forest, so whatever was the cause was around him. So, pulling out a throwing knife, Grey waited in silence for a couple of seconds before swiftly throwing the knife toward his the darkness of the forest.

The knife definitely struck something, which is implied by the sound of a phantom voice crying out and the trail of darkness suddenly vanishing. Whatever Grey hit, it was obviously not human judging by the sound he just heard.

There was a moment of silence before, with great speed, Grey suddenly pulled out his sword and blocked something that attacked him from the side. He heard another blade strike his sword, before whatever attacked him continued through and back to the darkness of the forest.

Another strike like that one came again from the other side, and Grey blocked it just like the first. Whatever was attacking him kept making quick attacks like this and while always returning to the shadows to stay hidden.

Getting tired of these cowardly strikes, the Undead Swordsman blocked the next one while also making sure to move right in the path of his attacker. With the moonlight shining down, he finally got a good look at them… and they were definitely not human.

its body seemed to be entirely of shadows. It had a human shape from the waist up but no legs and was simply floating in the air. Two glowing white slits worked as their eyes. its shoulders and arms were covered in dark armor with red blades at the wrists, which were now locked with Grey's sword.

The Abyss Watcher pushed back the creature, causing sparks to ignite from the friction of the blades. The attacker brought its hands together and threw an attack made of darkness at Grey, who rolled away, causing the attack to strike a tree and leave some sort of black sludge on it.

For a second, Grey wondered if it was Abyss, but dismissed that thought when he saw the sludge slowly leave without corrupting the tree. So, he turned his attention towards the creature again and dashed towards it.

It was obviously caught off guard by his speed, but still managed to cross its arms in front of its body to block the attack. However, Grey wasn't aiming to attack it. Swinging his sword upwards, he purposely struck the ground, causing a cloud of dirt and dust to cover the creature's vision.

The creature couldn't see Grey swinging his sword from the side this time, which caused it to be struck from the side, sending it to the floor of the forest. While it was down, Grey jumped in the air and attempted to impale the creature with his sword.

However, it managed to quickly regain its senses and its body swiftly floated out of the way, which made Grey stab through the ground instead. The creature floated in the air again and glared at the Abyss Watcher, who glared right back.

The shadows of the forest seemed to get darker, a sign that the creature was mad. The Undead Swordsman pulled his sword out of the ground and got ready to face the creature again.

But they didn't continue their battle, because all of a sudden, small creatures that seemed to be made of golden light started floating down on them and covering the forest in light. Whatever they were, their light seemed to burn the dark creature as it started screeching in pain. It helplessly tried to cover itself, but the small creatures kept surrounding them, which left the dark creature to have no choice but to flee into the forest and float away into the darkness.

Grey can tell that it won't show itself again for a while, so he turned his attention towards the small creatures that seemingly stopped going in circles and simply floated in the air around him. They looked humanoids, but small and made of golden light.

Their gaze seemed to be on the Abyss Watcher, who simply waited for them to do something. However, they simply turned their gaze upwards, causing him to do the same… and he saw another creature that was not human.

A being made of cloth, hair, a circle mask, and was holding an odd horn seemed to be floating high in the air, slowly descending down until he was floating in front of the Undead Swordsman. It was sitting cross-legged on the air, hands on its knees as the horn was on its lap.

The golden creatures seemed to enjoy its presence, which is implied by how some of the either started going in circles around it or stand on its shoulders. "And who might you be?" Grey asked, still holding his sword to see if the new arrival was hostile, but the answer he received was an odd sound similar to chiming and jingling bells.

* * *

**(A/N: Thank you for reading this.**

**First: in the first two versions, I made the mistake that Ahri and Grey were easy to reveal knowledge about each other. I decided to settle for subtle messages and small information this time. Neither of them revealed much, only a small amount of equal information.**

**Second: about Shen's thoughts. True, he should have been more suspicious about Grey, and a little wary of Ahri. However, Shen's mindset is that you do good, you receive good, you do bad, and you receive bad. Because Ahri and Grey helped people, he's giving them a chance to see if they're dangerous or not but is still keeping his guard up.**

**Third: as you can see, Nocturne made an appearance. Well, it would only make sense. He feeds off nightmares, and he was originally in Ionia(to be specific, the Shadow realm). Plus, Ahri can control dreams, so it only makes sense that she wouldn't have nightmares unless the Demon of Nightmares himself is involved.**

**And lastly: Bard managed to find Ahri and Grey quite quickly. Honestly, that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. I only hope I manage to get his character and his responses right.**

**Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)**


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